Merinews:
New Delhi: Monday, January 21, 2019.
Right
to Information Act,2005 (more popularly known as RTI Act) was enacted by the
Parliament with a view to provide information to the common public from various
government departments and institutions, in a time bound manner, with a view to
bring more transparency in these departments.
The
prime objective of the Act is that any citizen of India can demand the
information as per the provisions of this Act and the information shall be provided
by the Central Public Information Officer of the Government Department or
Institution within a period of 30 days. If the CPIO fails to provide the
information within this period or provide such information, which is
incomplete, irrelevant or incorrect, then the person seeking the information
can make an appeal and thereafter the Appellate Authority shall provide the
same information within a maximum period of 45 days.
However, the RTI Act has strangely failed to
provide the time limit within which the appeals made to the Central Information
Commission shall be decided. Now, if you require any information and you do not
get the same from the Central Public Information Officer or the Appellate
Authority, then you will have to make a second appeal to the Central
Information Commission, but there is no time limit within which your second
appeal shall be decided by the Central Information Commission and you will have
to wait for the information for an indefinite period.
It
seems that, whosoever has drafted the RTI Act, has made this blunder,
knowingly, so that if some Government Department or Institution does not want
to give information, it should have an unwritten option to provide no
information, as there is no body to check, whether information is being given
or not, in the timely manner. Central Information Commission, which should have
ensured that people get the information in a time bound manner, is itself
sleeping. Legally speaking, one can approach the High Court, if Central
Information Commission does not pass the order within a reasonable time. But
how many persons seeking the information under the RTI Act, will be in a
position to engage a lawyer to approach a High Court?
It
is a matter of pure common sense that as far as the availability of information
is concerned, time is of essence. Information carries a value, only if it is
provided in a timely manner. If somebody wants some information, then it should
be provided to him/her within a pre-defined reasonable time period (not
exceeding 90 days). But if the information is provided after 10 years, then the
information itself may become totally useless. Unfortunately, Central
Information Commission, is just doing the same. Since there is no time limit
given under the RTI Act within which the Central Information Commission has to
respond to the Second Appeals, it is taking undue advantage of this lacuna of
the RTI Act, and is in the habit of sitting on the Second Appeals submitted to
it for an indefinite period.
If
the government is of the view that Central Information Commission should
continue to function in this manner, then it is better that this Act itself may
be repealed so that a huge amount is not spent on the administration of the
Commission. If the Government is of the view that common public, really deserve
the timely information as provided in the RTI Act, then it must define a time
period within which Second Appeals shall be decided by the Central Information
Commission.
Editorial
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