Live Law: New Delhi: Wednesday,
August 03, 2016.
In a
significant order, Central Information Commission has held that, the offices of
President, Vice President, Prime Minister, Governors, Lt Governors and Chief
Ministers are not legally obliged under RTI Act to entertain RTI applications
seeking information unrelated to it, or not held or controlled by these high
offices.
The
Information Commissioner, Prof. M. Sridhar Acharyulu, also held that, when such
Apex Executive offices create infrastructure to transfer such applicationsto
concerned departments/authorities, they cannot be subjected to first and second
appeals under RTI Act in such cases.
The
Commission made this observation while dismissing a Second Appeal filed by one
R.S. Gupta against Lieutenant General Office. The applicant in this case, had
filed an RTI application with L-G office seeking information regarding
absorption of his services as PGT¬ English in any government school. This
application was transferred u/s 6(3) of RTI Act, to the Directorate of
Education, Delhi. He filed appeal which was dismissed.
NO APPEALS
AGAINST TRANSFERING OF UNRELATED RTI APPLICATIONS
The
Commission dismissing his appeal observed: “Thus it is clear that there is no
legal obligation on the CPIO of LG office, in this case either to respond or
transfer or answer in first or second appeal to the RTI application of
appellant as LG office is unrelated to it. However, it has helpfully
transferred it to the concerned public authority-Department of Education in
this case. For that act of help, the CPIO of LG office cannot be subjected to
first and second appeals. It is illegal and unreasonable besides being totally
against the provisions of Right to Information Act, 2005.”
The
commission added: “In this case the applicant filed RTI request without any
justification before the LG office compelling it to transfer, and use their
resources to attend first and second appeals without any relevance or
necessity. This is sheer waste of public money and time of public authority
including that of this Commission. From the representation of officers of LG
office, it is clear that they are devoting substantial share of their quality
office time on this kind of applications running into 15 to 20 every day. They
need to write letters, post them to concerned public authority and intimate the
appellant through another letter. Each of such unrelated RTI application
compels the LG office to utilize public money around Rs 50 for posting one
transfer letter. The LG office either has to send senior officers including the
PIO and two of his assistants to the hearings first before first appellate
authority and then before the Information Commission, which also involves
purposeless expenditure and wastage of time of officers including their travel
expenses. Instead of creating a good governance system, this practice is
creating a bad and an aimless exercise burdening public exchequer. The Commission
disapproves this practice.”
The
Commission further observed: “Citizen are filing applications with higher
authorities like President, Vice president, Prime Minister, Governors, Lt
Governors or Chief Ministers seeking information about their subordinates, with
a belief that the subordinates would care more than a direct application to
that office. This cannot be correct. Such a practice should be discouraged for
the sake of proper governance. Only those RTI requests coming from illiterates
or those who do not have opportunity to identify proper public authority for
information should be properly guided.“
GUIDELINES
· The commission has issued the following guidelines to
deal with such RTI applications filed in Apex Executive bodies.
· The offices of President, Vice President, Prime Minister,
Governors, Lt Governors and Chief Ministers are not legally obliged under RTI
Act to entertain RTI applications seeking information unrelated to it, or not
held or controlled by these high offices.
· RTI applicants do not have any right to information which
is not held or controlled by these high offices.
· The CPIOs of these high offices will have an obligation
to respond and inform action taken when the applicant made a complaint against
a subordinate public authority, gains to whom it can exercise superior
supervisory power and take action. Such application cannot be merely
transferred to another public authority ignoring the fact that complaint was against
public authority where the RTI petition was being transferred.
· If these offices of apex executive authoritie screate infrastructure
to help these applicants at least by transferring their applications by email
or by any other means convenient to them, they are welcome. But the CPIOs
cannot be subjected to first and second appeals under RTI Act in such cases.
· The applicants who file such RTI applications by post
shall intimate their email ids and mobile numbers, so that they can be
intimated about transfer.
· Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) may develop
necessary guidelines in consultation with these high executive offices to
tackle various kinds of RTI applications from literate, illiterate, ordinary or
Below-Poverty-Line (BPL) applicants even though they are not seeking
information relating to these offices, without causing the wastage of public
money and time of public authorities.
· RTI applicants, who know that information is not
available with such offices shall not file RTI applications with these apex
authorities.
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