Bangalore
Mirror: Bangalore: Saturday, 18 July 2015.
RTI Act
mandates disposal of info within 30 days of appeal; Delay against spirit of
act, say activists; Bangalore Mirror finds cases that have not been allotted a
bench for more than a year
The Karnataka
Information Commission (KIC) is supposed to be the last resort when officials
turn down revealing vital information under the RTI Act. But this has not
proved to be the case. Many sensitive cases filed as appeals against government
officials are being sent to the cold storage at the KIC. While the act mandates
providing of information within 30 days, here are some cases that have not been
allotted a bench for more than a year.
Delay
hurts the cause;
This is the
fate of appeals filed by city-based activist, S Bhaskaran and many others like
him, who knock on the doors of the information commission. When any information
is sought under the RTI Act, provision of information to the applicant is
mandatory within 30 days of application under section 6 (1) of the act. When it
is not provided, the applicant can appeal to the next senior (PIO) under
section 19 (1). An action has to be taken within 45 days of filing of such
appeals. However, if the information given is not satisfactory or wrong, then
the aggrieved person can move the state information commission under section 19
(3) of the act, which empowers the commission to direct the concerned to
provide information to aggrieved. The act also has provisions for the aggrieved
to get the costs incurred. The commission may also fine or recommend
departmental enquiry against the officer.
"It's
been over four years and I have been waiting in over 30 cases, where a bench
has not allotted. This defeats the purpose of the act. The commission is meant
for speedy disposal of cases to ensure the aggrieved get information.
"The
commission seems to be working in the interest of the government officials who
delay the supply of information. Instead of helping us get information, the
commission is working to dilute the act by firstly not allotting a bench, and
later delaying the case for years, which is against the spirit and purpose of
the RTI Act," A R S Kumar, a leading activist and advocate, told Bangalore
Mirror.
Bhaskaran
said the delay in allotting bench was as good as denial of information.
"When allotment of bench takes so long, then the time to hear and dispose
the case will take few more months. By the time we get information, it takes
years and the purpose of seeking information under the RTI Act would serve no
purpose. In some cases, the officer who has erred would have retired and nobody
could be held responsible. KRIDL is one such case," Bhaskaran said.
"The
number of such appeals waiting for a bench in the information commission are
about 2,000. There are few more hundred cases where though benches are
allotted, they are not heard even once," Jayakumar Hiremath, another RTI
activist told Bangalore Mirror.
RTI brass
say;
However, the
RTI brass denied charges of delay in the allotment of a bench to hear a
case/appeal, besides rubbishing charges of sending sensitive cases to the cold
storage. "It is not true. We can't stay like that for years without
allotting a bench to a case.
However, we
go by a procedure before allotting a bench to a case. Based on a Supreme Court
directive, we have prepared 10-point checklist and each appeal is scrutinised
thoroughly. One of the directives is that before somebody appealing here, they
should have made first appeal and then alone, it may be admitted here. The
appeals received after May are under scrutiny and a bench will be allotted. It
is not true that appeals are kept pending for years. Every case is allotted a
bench, but when a commissioner retires these return without being heard.
Recently, when commissioner M R Pujar retired, 700 cases returned.
The cases
being referred as non-allotment of bench by complainants must be ones among
them. Every case has been allotted with a bench and ones from May are under
scrutiny. The charges of not allotting bench for years is wrong," a top
officer of the KIC said.
And
thereby hang these cases;
Case 1
Details of
rowdy-sheeter Bettanagere Seena Encounter
Information
sought: FIR, chargesheets/additional chargesheets, panchanama, mahazar, video
and photograph, evidence of the incident, audio/video statements of witnesses,
police inventory of the incident and occurrence of events as recorded by
police, list of people, accused, rowdy-sheeters present during the encounter.
Date of RTI
Application: 03.10.2012
First Appeal:
15.03.2014
Filed before
the information commission: 03.05.2014
Status: No
bench allotted
Wait time: 1
year, 2 months
Case 2
Details
pertaining to power minister D K Shivakumar
Information
sought: Certified copies of complete set of papers/documents filed by power
minister D K Shivakumar while filing nomination in 2013 when he contested from
Kanakapura.
Date of RTI
application: 04.02.2014
First Appeal:
15.03.2014
Filed before
the information commission: 02.07.2014
Status: No
bench allotted
Wait time: 1
year
Case 3
Road works in
Bengaluru by Kridl
Information
sought: List of developmental works undertaken and money spent by Karnataka
Rural Infrastructure Development Limited for entire jurisdiction of Bengaluru
and certified copies of all documents pertaining to same.
Date of RTI
application: 28.07.2014
First Appeal:
21.08.2014
Filed before
the information commission: 23.09.2014
Status: No
bench allotted
Wait time: 11
Months
Case 4
MUDA (Mysore
Urban Development Authority) catalogue
Information
sought: Certified copies of the entire documents catalogued and indexed
adhering to section 4 (1) (a) and Section 4 (1) (b) of the RTI act, 2005 of
MUDA.
Date of RTI
application: 29.04.2014
First Appeal:
18.08.2014
Filed before
the information commission: 29.12.2014
Status: No
bench allotted
Wait time: 7
Months
Case 5
Service
register of KIADB chief engineer
Information
sought: Certified copies of the service register of T R Swamy, presently
discharging his duties as chief engineer and chief developmental officer, KIADB
Date of RTI
application: 28.01.2014
First Appeal:
24.03.2014
Filed before
the information commission: 21.07.2014
Status: No
bench allotted
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