Times of India: Aurangabad: Tuesday, 13 August 2024.
The State Information
Commission bench at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar has junked as many as 2,788
second appeals filed by a single applicant, terming such bulk pleas without any
public interest as gross misuse of the RTI Act.
During a hearing on June 26, the bench found that large number of second appeals filed under the RTI Act 2005 in the past three years was by a single applicant.
The bench further came to know that the applicant has also filed nearly 10,000 separate applications under the RTI Act to seek information in other matters.
During the hearing before the bench, the applicant also failed to convince that the information sought by him was in public interest.
Observing that repeated requests for similar information by the applicant across various offices were like holding the authorities to ransom, the information panel junked all second appeals, terming them as misuse of the RTI Act.
“The complainant, by repeatedly filing similar RTI applications and appeals with the respondent public authority and the commission, was wasting public resources,” the bench said.
As per the procedure followed in the appeals and complaints under the RTI Act, the Information Commission receives second appeals against the orders of appellate authorities (AAs) under Section 19 of the Act.
The State Information Commission bench at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar has as many as 14,563 second appeals pending by June. The pendency is the second highest with the Mumbai bench (18,014) across eight benches of the information panel, official data showed.
During a hearing on June 26, the bench found that large number of second appeals filed under the RTI Act 2005 in the past three years was by a single applicant.
The bench further came to know that the applicant has also filed nearly 10,000 separate applications under the RTI Act to seek information in other matters.
During the hearing before the bench, the applicant also failed to convince that the information sought by him was in public interest.
Observing that repeated requests for similar information by the applicant across various offices were like holding the authorities to ransom, the information panel junked all second appeals, terming them as misuse of the RTI Act.
“The complainant, by repeatedly filing similar RTI applications and appeals with the respondent public authority and the commission, was wasting public resources,” the bench said.
As per the procedure followed in the appeals and complaints under the RTI Act, the Information Commission receives second appeals against the orders of appellate authorities (AAs) under Section 19 of the Act.
The State Information Commission bench at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar has as many as 14,563 second appeals pending by June. The pendency is the second highest with the Mumbai bench (18,014) across eight benches of the information panel, official data showed.
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