Business Standard: New Delhi: Wednesday,
September 21, 2016.
The Central
Information Commission today slapped a token penalty of Re one an RTI applicant
who was apparently acting as a front for a pesticide lobbying group seeking raw
data of a JNU research, the findings of which went against the interests of the
group.
Information
Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu said the Commission cannot encourage the attempt
to use the RTI to raise harassing questions, frightening the researchers,
demoralising the research supervisors and prevent the JNU from its fearless
pursuit of independent research.
The case
relates to an "independent journalist" Archna Nair who had sought to
know from the JNU the raw data of a research paper which had claimed that
Indian vegetables have residues of 20 different pesticides which had been banned
20 to 30 years ago thereby implying their continuous illegal production, sale
and use in India.
The
Jawaharlal Nehru University provided some responses but did not give most of
them citing its policy of Ph.D thesis under which it was not under obligation
to disclose contents of Ph.D research for a period of three years after the
award of degree to the scholar.
The JNU also
cited section 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act which exempts information which is of
commercial confidence in nature or is under copyright.
The
Commission did not agree with some contentions of the JNU on these grounds and
suggested to make necessary changes in consonance of the RTI Act.
However, it
came down heavily on Nair saying appellant's attempt to get clarifications for
her "testing questions" cannot be answered as it is against the RTI
Act.
"The
appellant's multiple questions and litigations appear to have been guided by
federation of pesticide manufacturers.
"Is
there any public interest? Whether these questions are harassment to the author
or any scholarly reflection or interest in research," Acharyulu said.
Recording his
"admonition against the unethical abuse of RTI" and disapproving the
harassment caused to Professor and his research scholar, the Information
Commissioner imposed a token penalty of Re one on Nair to be deposited to the
University.
Acharyulu wondered
if such questions under the "garb of RTI" will not demoralise the
researchers and encourage abuse of the transparency law by commercially
interested agents representing themselves as information seekers.
"The
University professor, his scholar and research team, in fact are educating
people with their research findings against overuse of pesticides. If this
concept reaches people and properly understood farmers might move towards
agriculture without harmful pesticides," he said.
Nair had
sought details which ranged from providing raw data, addresses of chemists who
analysed samples, calibration of data, laboratory log maintained during the
analysis, chromatograms among others.
"There
is no provision to answer such grilling questions.
"The intention
behind this (RTI application) is not to secure access to information but
frighten the research itself. In fact, the Professor and scholar are nice
enough to answer certain questions...Which they are under no obligation as per
RTI Act," Acharyulu said.
The
Information Commissioner said Crop Care Federation of India is behind Nair.
"Unfortunately,
these profit mongering bodies have used RTI to SLAPP( a type of court petition)
to threaten the research and frighten the scholars.
"This
kind of misuse of RTI is increasing and they bring every such application to
the level of second appeal or take beyond too. There is no surprise if this
appellant (Nair) is used as conduit to file a writ petition challenging this
order," he said.
Acharyulu
recorded the appreciation of the Commission for the independent research and
academic honesty in responding to certain questions of applicant.
"They
are right in denying certain information. However, the University shall keep
the thesis in library and permit inspection and taking notes fromt it, however,
cautioning against unethical plagiarism and unacknowledged cutting and pasting
of their work," he said.
He
recommended that University should publish the research work and also get it
translated into regional languages to explain to farmers how the use of
pesticide is harmful to life and environment.
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