Mumbai Mirror: Mumbai: Wednesday, February 07, 2018.
Sanjay
Shirodkar says he was refused info on corporation’s projects on the grounds
that it doesn’t come under public interest.
Right to
Information (RTI) activist Sanjay Shirodkar has accused the managing director
of National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited
(NHIDCL), New Delhi, of violating the provisions of RTI Act.
Shirodkar had
asked for certain emails and letters under Sections 41 (B) and 2 (F) of RTI
Act, but the corporation refused to provide the information saying it does not
come under public interest.
Shirodkar
told Mumbai Mirror: “Letters and emails sent on record have to come under RTI
as per the Act. The corporation is a public company formed in 2016 under the
ministry and road transport highways. I have filed similar RTIs with cabinet
ministers of Maharashtra to seek information about letters and emails they had
sent recently. I got replies from the offices of more than five cabinet
ministers. How come the corporation claims that this information is not in
public interest? When the corporation is run on taxpayers’ money, they better
follow the RTI Act.”
Shirodkar had
filed a first appeal but as he did not get any success, he has now decided to
move to Central Information Officer for the second appeal as letters and mails
are not exempted under RTI.
Shirodkar had
used the RTI route for seeking information about emails and letters sent and
received by the Managing Director of NHIDCL in December 2017.
Shirodkar
said, “I received a reply from NHIDCL on December 13, 2017 saying ‘information
sought is fiducious no such word or spelling in dictionary in nature hence
denied under Section 8(e).”
Then he went
to appeal on January 15, 2018 challenging this reply from the NHIDCL.
He received
an order on January 31, 2018 stating that the information of Managing Director
of NHIDCL is of ‘commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property,
the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party.’
He also
blamed that the Public Information Officer declined to grant the requested
information without calling upon the applicant’s representation about the same.
The order is silent on how the PIO arrived at the conclusion that the larger
public interest did not warrant the disclosure of the requested information.
“I sought the
information about a public sector undertaking being the tax payer of the
country. I have not asked information relating to any private party. Under RTI,
2005, which is now a fundamental right given by our Constitution, the appellant
has a right to know the same,” Shirodkar said.
When
contacted by Mirror on landline, NHIDCL officers declined to comment on the
matter.
.JPG)
.JPG)
