Daily Excelsior: Srinagar: Friday, December 18, 2015.
On December
1st 2015 Jammu & Kashmir State Information Commission (SIC) gave a landmark
judgment on the issue of Life & Liberty clause of Right to Information Act
(RTI). This clause is present in both State as well as Central Right to
Information laws. The State Chief Information Commission (CIC) G R Sufi in his
judgment made it clear that it is not
necessary that an affected person shall have to seek information from a Public Information Officer
(PIO) under life and liberty clause (see section 7 (1) of J&K RTI Act
2009 / Central RTI Act 2005), but even
his close associates can seek this information which is to be provided within
48 hours by the PIO of the concerned Public Authority. Earlier whenever anybody
invoked this clause of RTI Act to get information as quickly as possible , the
PIO’s would reject the application on the plea that affected parties should
seek the information themselves. While issuing this historic judgment State
Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) observed that there was a question,
whether information sought for the life and liberty of a person has to be
sought by the same person whose life or liberty is at stake. The nature of the
situations for these two eventualities and situations makes seeking of
information directly by the affected persons very difficult and at times impossible.
The
judgment reads as :
“If a person
is unauthorizedly incarcerated, he may not be in a position to use his right of
seeking information. Similarly, if a patient is admitted in the hospital and is
not in a position to invoke his right personally, any close member of his
family or any other person who has bonafide interest in the preservation and
maintenance of life and liberty of that person can invoke the right to
information which may ultimately ensure safety of the life and liberty of any
person. Therefore, if after establishing genuine interest in preserving life
and liberty of a person, the information can be sought by any other person who
is otherwise qualified to seek information under J&K RTI Act, 2009”.
Background
of the case :
Dr Mushtaq
Ahmad Khan a resident of Kathi Darwaza Srinagar who is a Dental Surgeon and
a renowned RTI Activist including myself had filed an application before the G
B Pant hospital Srinagar which works under the administrative control of
Government Medical College Srinagar. Dr Mushtaq’s newborn baby had developed
some medical complications at the time of her birth in June this year. The baby
was admitted in G B Pant hospital which is the only pediatric and neonatal care
hospital in Srinagar. There were lots of problems in the Neonatal Intensive Care
Unit (NICU) like lack of incubators , ventilators and had Mushtaq not
intervened, her baby along with many
other infants would not have been alive today. When we found the messy state of
affairs in the hospital , we sought all the information under RTI Act , but we
invoked section 7 (1) ie Life & Liberty clause. We wanted this information
quickly , we didn’t had time to wait for 30 days. The information not provided
within 48 hours and we filed a complaint before State Information Commission
(SIC). Meanwhile we mobilized the local press etc and finally the Government
sanctioned as many as 20 Incubators , few new ventilators etc and the situation
is altogether different now in the said hospital.
What is Life
& Liberty clause :In normal course
of time the information under RTI Act is
provided within 30 days, but say for example if a patient is not getting good
treatment in Government run hospital or medicines meant for patients are not
given to them. In this case if somebody wants information , how can he or she
wait for 30 long days ? Similarly if someone is unauthorizedly arrested by
police or security agencies , the relatives or friends have a right to know the
reasons for the illegal detention . In these cases this clause can be invoked.
Section 7 (1) of RTI Act says that
Public Information Officer (PIO) on receipt of a request under Right to
Information Act (RTI) , shall as expeditiously as possible and in any case
within 30 days of the receipt of the request provide information to the
applicant. In case the information sought for concerns the Life &
Liberty of the a person , the same shall
be provided within 48 hours of the receipt of the request.
Conclusion
:
If the
aggrieved person wants information under Life & Liberty clause (Section 7
(1) of RTI Act) the information seeker in most of the times cannot even sign
the RTI Application. It is therefore necessary that his /her close associates , relatives have to file
this application. In case of Dr Mushtaq
Khan’s daughter who was just 7 days old , how was it possible that an infant
would seek information for her own Life
& Liberty ? Similarly if somebody is
illegally detained in a police station , how can he invoke his right under
Right to Information Act (RTI) ? In this case it is necessary that someone has
to seek information on behalf of the aggrieved person . State Chief Information
Commission G R Sufi’s order in this
regard had cleared everything and in future Government officials won’t create
hurdles in providing the information sought under life and liberty clause by
persons other than the affected parties
whose life or liberty is at stake. I would urge upon people to invoke
this important section of RTI whenever
they feel the liberty or human rights of
a person are being violated.
(Dr Raja
Muzaffar Bhat)
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