Government officials diluting powers of RTI Act: Information Commission

Of late, government officials in the state seem to be keen on diluting the powers of Right to Information (RTI) Act as many seem to find a reason to reject an application rather than provide the information sought.

According to Karnataka Information Commission, such cases are on the rise.

A RTI applicant, Santosh P Nargund had sought details from the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation  (HDMC) under Section 4 of the RTI Act, suo motu declaration. However, the authorities refused to furnish all the information stating that only one query per application is entertained besides requesting him to pay `50 for the first set of information.

Under section 4 (1)(b), a public authority should furnish information such as the particulars of its organisation, functions and duties; the powers and duties of its officers and employees; the procedure followed in the decision making process, including channels of supervision and accountability; the norms set by it for the discharge of its functions; the rules, regulations, instructions, manuals and records, held by it or under its control or used by its employees for discharging its functions.

And as per law every public authority has to publish these information suo motu to the public at regular intervals through various means of communications. “We had even filed an appeal with the First Appellate Authority of HDMC. But even he seem to defend the PIOs claim of rejecting the application,” Nargund said. “We are left with no option but to approach the Information Commission with the second appeal,” he added.

In another case, Hubli Electricity Supply Company Limited rejected an application filed by Nargund, seeking details regarding electricity connection to agricultural borewell, on the grounds that it was not in the prescribed format.

Meanwhile, Secretary Karnataka Information Commission N Jayadeva told Express, “The Information Commission regularly conducts training and the PIOs are quite knowledgeable. If an application is rejected cause of a malicious intent it is certainly diluting the powers of RTI.”

Original news source