Times of India: New Delhi: Tuesday, September
11, 2018.
At a time when the CIC is battling a
shortage of information commissioners and a huge backlog of cases, a deluge of
RTIs by an applicant since 2012 has left the information body stumped.
Wondering if the right to information is "absolute and
unconditional", information commissioner Divya Prakash Sinha in an order
directed the appellant to make "judicious use of his time" and warned
him against misuse of the RTI Act.
The application was for information from
Indian Ordnance Factory in Raipur regarding a test that had taken place in
2012, been scrapped and, thereafter, held again the same year. The applicant,
who had appeared for both tests, was not selected. Since then, RP Verma, the
appellant, has been filing RTIs along with his wife and daughter.
Coming down hard on Verma, Sinha said:
"It appears the appellant has grossly misconceived the idea of exercising
his Right to Information as being absolute and unconditional. It is rather
unfortunate that even the best of intentions have to not only stand the test of
procedural requirements and fetters laid down in the Act but also the test of
practicality."
Citing a number of cases in the Supreme
Court as well as lower courts, Sinha observed in his judgment that the
appellant had been "persistently" filing applications seeking
"almost similar information in different manner" to "merely
pressurise the public authority into acceding to his request of change of
trade".
Sinha's order is scathing in its
indictment of the series of RTIs, which he terms as being a bid to
"clearly harass the public authority".
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