DNA: Mumbai: Saturday, August 22, 2015.
From now on,
expect the first appellate authority (FAA) of the civic body to give reasoned
orders to your RTI appeals. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has
come out with a format which its FAA will have to adhere to for passing first
appeal orders.
With the FAA
being the intermediary, between the public information officer (PIO) and the
second appeal, applicants would expect its orders to be effective, helping them
get information. However, in the absence of a prescribed format, the FAA would
often pass an order that meant nothing to an applicant frustrated with the PIO.
Even the state information commission, in its annual reports submitted to the
state assembly, often remarked of FAAs shirking their job.
The new
format was signed and issued on August 13 by municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta.
It covers a range of areas that FAAs used to avoid mentioning in their orders
to escape responsibility, including their personal notes on arguments often
made by the applicant.
Now, the
names and contact details of FAA members, besides their work hours, will have
to be mentioned. Their orders, as per the format, should contain the dates on
which the application was made, the PIO's reply was given and the first appeal
was made, when the applicant was informed about the hearing, with time of the
appeal, and whether the applicant and PIO were present for the hearing.
A brief
explaining why the applicant filed an appeal and the arguments of the applicant
and PIO will have to be noted. The FAA will also have to give a detailed
explanation on why s/he came to the conclusion mentioned. The order will have
to take into consideration any submission made by the applicant if s/he was not
able to attend the appeal.
"If it
is implemented, it will also help in the second-appeal stage. The points of
view of the FAA and the applicant will reflect, which is not the case right
now. The applicant can also further his/her argument during the second appeal.
It will keep a check on FAA's working style too. We will forward this format to
the state government, which is keen to form an institutional mechanism for
improving the implementation of the RTI Act," said Bhaskar Prabhu,
convenor of Mahiti Adhikar Manch.
dna tried contacting
Mehta, but he remained unavailable.
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