Daily Excelsior: Srinagar: Tuesday, November 28, 2017.
Jammu &
Kashmir Public Service Commission (PSC) continues to violate Right to
Information Act (RTI) in-spite of the fact that State Information Commission
(SIC) has been directing it to follow the law in letter and spirit. I can’t
understand the reason why PSC gives more weightage to its so called precedence
and Standing Orders which contradict with the basic essence of Right to
Information Act ? I am in receipt of a fresh reply from the Public Information
Officer (PIO) of J&K PSC. The officer has once again denied to provide me
the Xerox copies of answer sheets (OMR sheets) and answer key of Combined
Competitive Exams (preliminary examination). Earlier State Information Commission
(SIC) in its several orders had directed the PSC to provide similar kind of
information and during the hearing , the PIO as well as First Appellate
Authority (FAA) ie Secretary and Controller examinations did not utter even a
word before the Information Commission and agreed to follow its order. But when
a new RTI is filed to seek similar information , the PIO as well as FAA
raise unnecessary queries again and
again .
Recent reply
from PSC
Few months
back J&K RTI Movement on behalf of aggrieved civil service aspirants filed
an application under J&K RTI Act 2009 before J&K Public Service
Commission (SIC). As there was no response, from the PIO ,we filed 1st appeal
before the First Appellate Authority (FAA) ie Controller of Examination. The
controller heard the appeal where this author was personally present.
Ironically the PIO against whom I had
filed the appeal remained absent. I was told he had gone to SIC for some case
hearing. I asked First Appellate Authority-FAA (Controller examination) why I
was not intimated about the same ? I pleaded before the Controller (FAA) that
he should recommend the case of legal misconduct to State Information
Commission (SIC) as mandated under J&K RTI Act 2009, but to my utter shock
all these details were not at all recorded and the order issued by FAA was bad
in law. Vide his order dated: 18.09.2017 the First Appellate Authority (FAA)
said “it was made clear to the appellant that the information sought cannot be
provided as per precedence”. But I was hardly told all this during the hearing.
Even if I was told all this , why FAA who is a quasi judicial authority used a
word called Precedencein his order ? Is legislature such a weak institution
than PSC’s precedence ?
After almost
two months I was once again shocked when I got a reply from PIO, which
otherwise should have come to me before the first appeal was heard. The
PIO’s letter No: PSC/Exam/RTI/73/2017
Dated 26.10.2017 was received by me on 17.11.2017. The letter from PIO of J&K
PSC reads as :
“Refer your
RTI application under J&K RTI Act 2009 where under you have sought
information of Combined Competitive (Preliminary) examination 2016. In this
connection it is intimated that as per the standing orders of the Commission ,
the OMR sheets cannot be displayed till he selection process is completed and
recommendation is communicated to the intending department”
Why PIO
responded to my RTI application , when an order was already passed by the FAA ?
Why he used word Standing Orders ? Is law supreme or standing orders, I ask
Public Service Commission (PSC).
Conclusion :
I know both
Public Information Officer (PIO) and First Appellate Authority -FAA (Controller
or Secretary) of PSC are Government employees and have to obey the policies of
the Commission (PSC) where they are posted . Being guardians of RTI Act, they
should know that no standing order or precedence can be compared with Law
?The RTI law already makes it clear that
Right to Information Act overrides all the laws which deny sharing of
information. Section 19 of the J&K RTI Act 2009 says that this law shall have the effect notwithstanding
anything inconsistent therewith contained in the State Official Secrets Act and
any other law for the time being in force or any instrument having effect by
virtue of any law other than the act (RTI Act) . This legal point makes it
amply clear that RTI Act has an overriding effect on laws which counter it.
Even a layman knows standing orders or precedence of PSC has no legal standing
before the law. Not only overriding effect of RTI Act, the RTI legislation has
given such a great power to citizens
that information which can be sought by MPs or MLAs can be obtained by citizens as well. J&K RTI Act 2009 reads ” Provided that
the information which cannot be denied to parliament or the state legislature
cannot be denied to any person” .Will PSC deny to provide copies of OMR sheets
and answer keys to MP’s or MLAs when the same is sought by them ? PSC has to
become transparent now , it should proactively scan and upload all the OMR sheets
plus answer key on it official website on the very next day of any examination.
After SIC’s
intervention in some cases , many job aspirants had access to their answer
sheets and in some cases many got justice as well. Few years back SKIMS
Srinagar authorities had failed a medical student in MD Medicine theory exams. The student sought
copy of his answer paper along with some other candidates as well. The
information was denied , but the then Chief Information Commissioner G R Sufi
ordered PIO of SKIMS to provide all the information. It was revealed than many
questions attempted by said doctor had not been marked and the doctor passed
the exam and got justice. I have no personal grudge against PSC, I only want it should be completely
institutionalized so that meritorious youth get justice.
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