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SIC fails to hear appeals & complaints through Video-Conferencing ? Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat 12/21/2014 10:54:30 PM More than seven years back I had sought information under Right to Information Act (RTI) from the office of the Director General of Border Security Force (BSF) New Delhi regarding custodial disappearance of Mohammad Ashraf Yatoo who was an employee of Consumer Affairs & Public Distribution Department (CAPD). Yatoo was picked up by the soldiers of BSF's 80th Battalion from his village Badipora in central Kashmir's Budgam district during the village crack down on December 13th 1990 . When the said information was not denied to me, I finally moved a complaint before the Central Information Commission (CIC) New Delhi in April 2010. The matter was listed for hearing before the CIC on July 2nd, 2010. CIC had summoned the BSF's top brass for the hearing and I being the complainant in this high profile case was not asked to be present in person, instead I was asked to attend the hearing through video conferencing. Due to summer agitation of 2010 I informed the CIC officials about my helplessness to appear in the video conferencing which was arranged at DC office Srinagar. The CIC could have easily listed this case for next hearing but it didn't and instead asked me to place my arguments through tele conferencing . My statement was recorded on telephone by the then Chief Information Commissioner Mr Wajahat Habibullah. I placed my arguments about the case and the judgment was later on given against the BSF. I am not going deep into this particular case, but I want to highlight another aspect of the case. Jammu & Kashmir State Information Commission (SIC) was constituted almost six years back . The said Commission (SIC) is fully operational from the last many years with its offices at Srinagar & Jammu. The office of the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) is a moving office and keeps shifting with the "durbar move ". The CIC takes up cases related to move offices ,Commissions , Civil Secretariat etc and the other two Information Commissioners hear complaints and appeals against Public Authorities whose offices are located in respective divisions ie Srinagar / Jammu. Under RTI Act persons belonging to Below Poverty Line (BPL) category are exempted to pay any kind of fees. Even the Public Information Officer (PIO) is legally bound to render all the reasonable assistance to an illiterate person who makes the request orally and PIO has to reduce the same in writing [see JK RTI Act 2009 section 6 (1) (b)]. If the J&K Right to Information Act (RTI) is so much pro people and pro poor why are authorities making this law complicated thus depriving an "aam aadmi" from his or her Right to Information? Why shall an ordinary citizen from Kupwara , Kulgam or Srinagar travel all the way to Jammu and spend days in hotel just to attend a case of RTI related complaint or appeal before the State Information Commission ? The people from Kathua , Samba , Doda etc in Jammu region face similar problem when they have to attend the RTI case hearing at Srinagar. Don't we have video conferencing facilities available at our SIC offices in Srinagar or Jammu ? If Central Information Commission (CIC) can take up RTI related complaints and appeals through video and tele-confe-rencing, why cannot SIC avail similar facilities of the Govt ? Why is it necessary for an appellant to be present in person during the case hearings? The SIC says that it is taking up appeals and complaints via video conferencing but practically not even 10 % such cases are taken up as per reliable information. State Government has large number of Community Information Centres (CIC's) at district and block levels and their services can easily be utilized for arranging video conferencing for RTI related cases. How can a poor RTI applicant belonging to BPL category or a student afford to travel to Jammu or Srinagar to attend case hearings before the State Information Commission (SIC) ? If our State Government is spending crores on the development and maintenance IT sector, then why does it deprive its own citizens from availing the facilities available under this sector ? If Govt can exempt people belonging to disadvantaged communities from paying mere 10 Rs as RTI application fees , how can SIC justify its move when it asks BPL RTI applicants to attend case hearings in Jammu or Srinagar? The SIC authorities argue that their office at Srinagar was submerged in flood waters and that is the reason that video conferencing facility remained defunct , if this is true why could not SIC Jammu office take up RTI hearings via Video- Conferencing ? As per details available large number of RTI appellants / complainants from Kashmir valley including myself have been asked to attend the hearings at Jammu office.   Share This News with Your Friends on Social Network     Comment on this Story

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