Times of India: Editorial: Tuesday,
01 December 2015.
Information
commissioners reportedly want the government to introduce a legal filter in the
Right to Information (RTI) Act to weed out frivolous applications. Any change
in the law to curtail the citizen’s access to information on public affairs is
regressive. It would be entirely up to the state to decide what query is
frivolous. Data collated by National Campaign for People’s Right to Information
show that less than 1% of the applications can be classified as vexatious. We can
live with this. To ask for an undertaking that the applicant has not sought the
information earlier is needless harassment. So, the case for diluting the Act
on the professed reason that frivolous applications clog the system or thwart
institutional efficiency is patently bogus.
The easiest
way to avoid having to field so many RTI queries is to proactively publish all
information in a form that makes sense. The UPA government had promised such a
reform, but did not deliver on the promise. The NDA must implement the policy
to improve governance. And in doing so, it will also fulfil a fundamental duty.
Sure, official secrets must be protected. Section 8 of the RTI Act defines
these restrictions. The state, for example, is not obliged to disclose to any citizen
information that would “prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of
India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State,
relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence”. Information
that amounts to contempt of court cannot be disclosed either.
The RTI will
still need to be retained. A citizen must be able to seek clarifications on
what the government proposes to do about something that is of key interest to
her, considering that the RTI Act is meant to reveal the principles and reasons
that inform policymaking.
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