Free Press Journal: National: Saturday, 27 August 2022.
The former information commissioners, at a webinar held by National Campaign for People’s Right to Information, called on citizens to fight for their fundamental right that is in danger.
Former information commissioners in a webinar held on Friday held that filing RTI applications was a constitutional right that even the Supreme Court cannot take away. They were speaking in a webinar on “Banning Citizens from using RTI”.
The webinar was organised by the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information, a body working for RTI Act after commissions in Punjab, Gujarat and Andhra had banned applicants on charges of filing repeated RTI applications terming them “frivolous" and “vexatious”.
In Maharashtra, though the commission did not pass an order, instances of public authorities like the BMC banning applicants had come to light.
The webinar was attended by the first and former chief central information commissioner, Wajahat Habibullah, former central information commissioners Yashovardhan Azad and Shailesh Gandhi, and the present state information commissioner from Madhya Pradesh Rahul Singh, Anjali Bhardwaj, and Pankti Jog, an RTI activist from Gujarat and participants from all over the country.
Besides calling filing of RTI a fundamental right, commissioners called for information commissioners to act as per their stature for governance and not government. They called officers to go for IPC sections instead of getting blackmailed, talk about SC orders that are regressive, and called on citizens to fight for their fundamental right that is in danger.
“Even the Supreme Court cannot ban a person from filing an RTI. The attitude of commissions and commissioners is key. They are meant to protect the interests of citizens. They should work for governance and not the government,” said Habibullah.
Gandhi said that people need to talk about regressive orders of the Supreme Court that are bad in law. “There will be something wrong with us if we do not fight for our fundamental rights. Azad said that the percentage of frivolous and vexatious applications is not as much as it is made out to be.
“All laws are misused but should people after coming to a senior position not be able to tackle it? The stature of the commissioner has to be used productively. The regime should have bought much of the information that is asked repeatedly under section 4 (suo motu), which is not available. In the digital age, there should be no difficulty in compiling info. Banning someone is tyrannical,” said Azad.
“How can officers even say they get blackmailed and that RTI applications are filed for blackmailing? There are IPC provisions that clearly state how to deal with blackmailers. Our office receives all kinds of applications. We never got blackmailed,” said Singh. Bhardwaj said as per their study, less than one percent of applications could be termed “vexatious” or “frivolous”.
The former information commissioners, at a webinar held by National Campaign for People’s Right to Information, called on citizens to fight for their fundamental right that is in danger.
Former information commissioners in a webinar held on Friday held that filing RTI applications was a constitutional right that even the Supreme Court cannot take away. They were speaking in a webinar on “Banning Citizens from using RTI”.
The webinar was organised by the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information, a body working for RTI Act after commissions in Punjab, Gujarat and Andhra had banned applicants on charges of filing repeated RTI applications terming them “frivolous" and “vexatious”.
In Maharashtra, though the commission did not pass an order, instances of public authorities like the BMC banning applicants had come to light.
The webinar was attended by the first and former chief central information commissioner, Wajahat Habibullah, former central information commissioners Yashovardhan Azad and Shailesh Gandhi, and the present state information commissioner from Madhya Pradesh Rahul Singh, Anjali Bhardwaj, and Pankti Jog, an RTI activist from Gujarat and participants from all over the country.
Besides calling filing of RTI a fundamental right, commissioners called for information commissioners to act as per their stature for governance and not government. They called officers to go for IPC sections instead of getting blackmailed, talk about SC orders that are regressive, and called on citizens to fight for their fundamental right that is in danger.
“Even the Supreme Court cannot ban a person from filing an RTI. The attitude of commissions and commissioners is key. They are meant to protect the interests of citizens. They should work for governance and not the government,” said Habibullah.
Gandhi said that people need to talk about regressive orders of the Supreme Court that are bad in law. “There will be something wrong with us if we do not fight for our fundamental rights. Azad said that the percentage of frivolous and vexatious applications is not as much as it is made out to be.
“All laws are misused but should people after coming to a senior position not be able to tackle it? The stature of the commissioner has to be used productively. The regime should have bought much of the information that is asked repeatedly under section 4 (suo motu), which is not available. In the digital age, there should be no difficulty in compiling info. Banning someone is tyrannical,” said Azad.
“How can officers even say they get blackmailed and that RTI applications are filed for blackmailing? There are IPC provisions that clearly state how to deal with blackmailers. Our office receives all kinds of applications. We never got blackmailed,” said Singh. Bhardwaj said as per their study, less than one percent of applications could be termed “vexatious” or “frivolous”.
.JPG)
.JPG)
