The Times of India: Ahmedabad: Saturday, 27 August 2022.
Former chief information commissioner of India, Wajahat Habibulah, on Friday said that the right to information (RTI) is a constitutional right and information commissions (ICs) are quasi-judicial bodies which are not empowered to ban people from seeking information under the Right to Information Act.
Speaking at a webinar organized by the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI) and Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel (MAGP) on the legality of orders from ICs banning applicants, India’s first chief information commissioner said, “RTI is a constitutional right of every citizen. Does an information commission have the authority to pass an order banning people from seeking information under the RTI Act? This power is not exercised even by the Supreme Court. And an IC is not even a court. It is a quasi-judicial body.”
He went on to say that according to Section 4 of the RTI Act, the government must make all information accessible to people voluntarily. Terming judgments of ICs where RTI applicants have been banned from filing applications “absurd”, he said, “The RTI Act is clear on what information cannot be shared. The government must make all other information public pro-actively,” he said.
Earlier, Anjali Bhardwaj, co-convener of NCPRI said information commissions have been banning or blacklisting applicants on grounds that their applications are repetitive, frivolous or vexatious. “What is frivolous for someone could be a matter of life and death for others,” she said, adding that about 60 lakh people file RTI applications every year and the majority are common people who want to use the law to get basic things like pensions, rations, medicines and the like. “According to our research, only about 1% of applications could be termed frivolous or vexatious,” she said.
Pankti Jog of MAGP said that 10 citizens have been banned in Gujarat so far, of whom nine can’t file RTI applications for their whole life and one has been banned for 5 years. “The reasons given are that the information sought has nothing to do with the public interest, the applicants misbehaved during hearings, or they harassed officials and had mala fide intentions,” she said.
Former chief information commissioner of India, Wajahat Habibulah, on Friday said that the right to information (RTI) is a constitutional right and information commissions (ICs) are quasi-judicial bodies which are not empowered to ban people from seeking information under the Right to Information Act.
Speaking at a webinar organized by the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI) and Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel (MAGP) on the legality of orders from ICs banning applicants, India’s first chief information commissioner said, “RTI is a constitutional right of every citizen. Does an information commission have the authority to pass an order banning people from seeking information under the RTI Act? This power is not exercised even by the Supreme Court. And an IC is not even a court. It is a quasi-judicial body.”
He went on to say that according to Section 4 of the RTI Act, the government must make all information accessible to people voluntarily. Terming judgments of ICs where RTI applicants have been banned from filing applications “absurd”, he said, “The RTI Act is clear on what information cannot be shared. The government must make all other information public pro-actively,” he said.
Earlier, Anjali Bhardwaj, co-convener of NCPRI said information commissions have been banning or blacklisting applicants on grounds that their applications are repetitive, frivolous or vexatious. “What is frivolous for someone could be a matter of life and death for others,” she said, adding that about 60 lakh people file RTI applications every year and the majority are common people who want to use the law to get basic things like pensions, rations, medicines and the like. “According to our research, only about 1% of applications could be termed frivolous or vexatious,” she said.
Pankti Jog of MAGP said that 10 citizens have been banned in Gujarat so far, of whom nine can’t file RTI applications for their whole life and one has been banned for 5 years. “The reasons given are that the information sought has nothing to do with the public interest, the applicants misbehaved during hearings, or they harassed officials and had mala fide intentions,” she said.
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