| RTI Act dying slow death, SIC shields PIOs, FAAs | | After eight months, information denied to seeker | | Avinash Azad
Early Times Report
Jammu, Feb 28: Jammu and Kashmir Right to Information Act is considerably dying a slow death, which is also evident from the plight an RTI applicant who was refused information after his eight months long toil and the highest authority State Information Commission (SIC) allegedly found shielding the Public Information Officer, rather than helpless information seeker.
Instead of standing by information seeker, the Chief Information Commissioner, on February 25, 2016 disposed-off the second appeal filed by information seeker.
The information seeker informed ET that on July 6, 2015 he filed an application before Public Information Officer of Housing and Urban and Development Department, seeking answer of few questions related to two officers, who were found involved in tampering of records for undue promotions.
"Receiving no response from PIO within stipulated time period mentioned in the Act, I filed an appeal before First Appellate Authority i.e. Additional Secretary, HUDD on September 10, 2015. However, the FAA vide his letter dated October 1, 2015 intimated the appellant that his RTI application had been transferred to the PIO Directorate of Urban Local Bodies.
But, after failing to get any response over his first appeal, the applicant approached SIC on January 29 and the case was listed on February 24, 2016.
"PIO HUDD submitted that he had transferred the RTI application under section 6(3) of the J&K RTI Act, 2009 to PIO, Directorate of Urban Local Body, Jammu, as the information sought was pertaining to the directorate. However, the applicant was not intimated the transfer of his application to other PIO. The PIO Directorate of Urban Local Body, Jammu informed the commission that information has been furnished to applicant, but applicant refused to have received any such information", copy of proceeding of the case read.
“Despite the fact that the PIO had not furnished the information to me and had mislead the commission, as he did not produce any supporting document that information had furnished to me, the SIC instead of reprimanding the erring PIOs and FAAs, disposed off the complaint arbitrarily,” the information seeker said.
The RTI applicant said that after a period of around eight months, he was denied information by none other than CIC, on the ground that the sought information falls under section of 11(i) but the information was not personal as it was a major scandal of tampering records. "It was a crime committed by employees of HUDD but it was beyond my comprehension that how it falls under personal information. Even in each case of corruption, the illegal act is done by a person, employee and whether it is called personal and denied under RTI Act. If this is the case, then not an iota of information regarding corruption will come", the RTI applicant claimed.
"The SIC is favouring PIOs instead of information seekers, which is also evident from the record of penalties were imposed on the PIOs as only 14 penalties from 19/8/2011 to 28/10/2014, and during the same time the CIC dropped 129 penalty cases and the website of JKSIC gives this testimony", the RTI applicant claimed. |
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