Initiative to give more power to RTI

The Asian Age: Mumbai: Sunday, 09 November 2014.

A national-level initiative has been undertaken to impart more teeth to the RTI Act and provide legal assistance to RTI users and activists.

Twenty-four units have been set up across the country, including two in Maharashtra (one in Mumbai and one in Nagpur) by Supreme Court lawyer and head of Human Rights Law Networks (HRLN), Colin Gonsalves, to offer services to RTI users free of charge.

Advocate Kranti L.C. in Mumbai and Advocate Nihalsingh Rathod in Nagpur have been roped in to offer free services as part of this initiative.

According to the former Central Information Commissioner, who pioneered setting up of the Mumbai unit, legal help available to RTI users and activists will address two major problems threats and attacks while trying to challenge corruption and illegalities and the staying of significant orders from information commissions by courts.

An RTI activist said, “Most RTI users do not have the resources to fight the stays that continue and information never gets revealed, or cases are lost since arguments for disclosure and upholding the decisions of the information commission are never made before the courts.”

Another said, “This is a great step and opportunity for everyone in the country. This can help us strengthen the Right to Information Act and our democracy.”