nfici newsletter jun-jul-aug 2013

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From the CIC's Desk

While relinquishing the Chief Information

Commissioner's office on 4th September 2013, I feel proud in releasing this first ever Quarterly

Newsletter of the National Federation of

Information Commissions of India (NFICI).

I also take this opportunity to thank every one of

you who have been working hard to strengthen theCitizen’s Right to Information – from Information

Commissioners to PIOs, and from RTI activists to

our humble citizens. I took oath as the Chief CentralInformation Commissioner, the highest office in the

realms of RTI, on 5th September 2008. Since then, I

have been watching RTI grow from infancy toadolescence. Over these years, the Act has set out

the practical RTI regime for citizens to secure access

to information from public authorities, and has been

promoting transparency and accountability in theworking of every public authority. The CIC and the

SICs have also been constituted under the same Act.

And now, after 65 years of the country's

independence, time has come when all concernedshould decide that every information relating to

Governance must be made available to the general public.

You will all agree that the RTI Act has been a great

success in creating fear psychology amongst theerring officers of public authority. It has been

making a powerful impact on checking corruptio

and misconduct in public authorities, even at thvery initial stage of filing first RTI petition wit

Public Information Officers of public authoritie

covered under the Act. However, at the same timewe must also accept that the implementation of th

RTI Act in many parts of India is still in its infancywith most people, including the Governmen

machinery, not knowing enough about it. There is

general consensus that a lot still needs to be donurgently to make the public aware of the power o

the RTI Act, including its “how to” aspects. W

must therefore strive to….

To reflect upon my tenure as the Chief Informatio

Commissioner, I would submit that I am a firm

supporter of citizen’s fundamental rights, and I amconvinced that closer interaction between th

citizens and the Government machinery is necessar

for greater transparency in the long run. We hav been proceeding steadily and slowly on the pat

towards complete transparency. I am of the view

that this needs to be hastened, especially to ensur

effective and participatory Governance.In this regard, it is a matter of satisfaction for methat over the past five years I have generally been i

a position to do justice to the CIC’s chair, and to th

trust which the President of India had conferreupon me while appointing me to that position.

To conclude, I would express my earnest gratitud

to all concerned for their valuable contribution ikeeping our great nation “informed” under th

powers of RTI. I believe that the citizen’s right t

information is as much a treasure to each of you, ait is to me. And therefore, I do hope you will a

strive to take the RTI to even greater height

acceeding to this parting request of mine.

Thank you all once again, and au revoir .

“Let those in power be truthful.”

Quarterly Newsletter : June-July-August 2013 (Volume I)



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Deepak Sandhu likely to be next CIC

New Delhi, Aug 28 (PTI) : Mrs. Deepak

Sandhu, a retired Indian Information Service

(IIS) officer of 1971

batch, presentlyserving in Central

Information

Commission as

Information

Commissioner is

likely to be

appointed as next

Chief Information

Commissioner (CIC) to succeed Satyanand

Mishra who retires on 5th September 2013.

It is learnt that the Committee under the

chairmanship of Prime Minister has cleared this

appointment and the file recommending her

name has been sent to the President's office for

approval.

The Right to Information (Amendment) Bill,

2013 introduced in Lok Sabha

New Delhi : The issue of amending the Right toInformation Act 2005 came to limelight after a 3

June 2013 Central Information Commission

(CIC) Full Bench order. In its order CIC stated

that six national political parties namely, INC,

BJP, CPI(M), CPI, NCP, and BSP would be

brought under the RTI Act as they were public

authorities, receiving significant funding fromthe government.

The order of the CIC had evoked sharp reactions

from political parties, especially Congress whichhas been credited with bringing in thetransparency law.

The Union Minister of State for Personnel and

Training V Narayanasamy on 12 August 2013

introduced The Right to Information

(Amendment) Bill 2013 in Lok Sabha. Th

Union Cabinet approved the amendments to th

RTI Act 2005 on 2 August 2013.

The Bill was introduced to amend the Right t

Information Act, 2005, to exclude the politica parties from the definition of Public authorit

for the purpose of the Act.

Highlights of the RTI (Amendment) Bill 2013

1.The Right to Information (Amendment) Bil

2013 seeks to insert an explanation in Section

of the Act which states that any association o

body of individuals registered or recognised a

political party under the Representation of th

People Act, 1951 will not be considered a publiauthority.

2.Referring to the CIC order of June, the bi

also makes it clear that anything contained i

any judgement, decree or order of any court o

commission will not affect the status of politica

parties recognised under the Representation o

the People Act.

3.With a view to remove the adverse effects o

the Central Information Commission decisionthe bill states that it is necessary to giv

retrospective effect to the proposed amendment

4.The Statement of Objects and Reasons of th

Bill, states that the government considers tha

the CIC has made a liberal interpretation o

Section 2 (h) of the said (RTI) Act in it

decision.

5.The Statement of Objects and Reasons of th

Bill also points that there are already provisionin the RP Act as well as the Income Tax Ac

which deal with transparency in the financia

aspects of political parties and their candidates.



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Unique workshop on RTI Act

Pune : A special workshop held by BARTI on

the provisions of the RTI Act 2005. Section 26

(1), throws light on the immense power that

common man can have because of the right toinformation

Under Section 26 (1), the appropriate

government is mandated to develope awareness

programs and trainings for the backward and

under privileged sections, thus leading to

overall fulfillment of the goals of the Act.

With a view to create awareness about the right

to information, the Babasaheb Ambedkar

Research and Training Institute (BARTI), Pune,organized a one- day workshop at the Yashada

campus, Pune on August 31, 2012.

The unique workshop was held as part of a

series of programmes under an awareness

campaign started by the Chief Information

Commissioner of Maharashtra, Mr. Ratnakar

Gaikwad, who had urged the BARTI to create

awareness about the provisions of the RTI Act

2005 Section 26 (1) among various sections of the society and among the citizens from

disadventaged sections on priority.

In response to this communication, the Director

General of BARTI, Pune had shown great

interest and willingness to organize various

awareness programmes about the RTI Act. “The

BARTI is indeed an organization dedicated to

the cause of training and development of the

underprivileged sections working the

department of Social Justice, State of Maharashtra”, he had stated. Thus, a series of workshops was planned and delivered.

The Workshop: A state level one of its kind

workshop, this initiative saw a participation of

109 participants from various underprivileged

and ill informed sections like scheduled castes,

scheduled tribes, migrating tribes, othe

backward castes, physically challenged section

etc. Representatives from scheduled tribes lik

Mahadev Koli, Warli, Katkari, Pavra, Pardh

Kokani etc. also attended the workshop

Participants were also present from the Naxalit prone and remote areas of Gadchiroli district o

the state. The workshop saw a presence o

various officials from government and sem

government organizations like; Dr. Sanja

Chahande, Director General, Yashada, Dr. D.R

Parihar, Direcrtor General, BARTI Pune, M

Ashok Dhivare, retd. Addl DGP, Mr. Pralha

Kachare, Director,Center for Right t

Information, Yashada, Pune, Mr. Vive

Velankar, RTI activist, Pune.

Speaking on the occasion, the State Chie

Information Commissioner, Mr Gaikwa

stressed on the need to bring about a culture o

awareness as he said the right to information i

in line with the fundamental and constitutiona

rights provided by the Indian Constitution

Speaking on the importance of creatin

awareness about the provisions of the RTI Ac

Section 26 (1), he said “The RTI Act can hel

people understand the provisions for spending

budgetary allocations and the money spent fo

the cause of tribal and other development issue

This will be helpful to bring the tribals into th

mainstream.”

He said teams of about 10 volunteers from eac

taluka and about 100 participants from eac

district can be set up for the purpose of creatin

awareness about the provisions of the RTI Ac

2005. He also mentioned that a small booklecan be published on the topic for use by all.

The team of experts present on the occasio

upheld the importance of creating awarenes

about the RTI Act 2005 and recommended a few

things as, mentioned below :-



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• Workshops must be held at all levels like

taluka, district, state level.

• Information on the RTI Act 2005 should be

included in the school curriculum and awareness

workshops must be held for school and collegestudents. The respective district collectors

should be informed by the Information

Commissioners about conducting theseworkshops.

• The information about the RTI Act 2005

should be published in booklets in local and

tribal languages that can be read by all sections

in society.

• A paradigm shift should be made from theoverall thought pattern that ‘the common man

does not get fair justice and the RTI Act should

be used as a tool to help the masses.’

• All the Panchayati Raj and Zilla Parishad

representatives should be informed and trained

about the RTI Act.

• Special workshops should be held for

designated scheduled tribes and groups like

Pardhi, Katkari, Gond, Madiya etc.

• A special team of trainers for the RTI

workshops can be created at district levels with

about ten trainers for each district. BARTI can

lead this initiative and hold the

workshops/training sessions. The trainers should

be provided with proper training material.

• The District Planning Commission should take

care of funding the training initiative.

Instill hunger for information - Lalhuma

Kohima: Nagaland Chief Information

Commissioner Lalhuma Thursday appealed

government officials to create an environment

where there was hunger for seeking moreinformation by the public.

He was addressing the concluding day of the 3

day training on Right to Information Act 200

for AA/PIO/APIO and other officers at th

conference hall of the Administrative Trainin

Institute (ATI), Kohima Thursday.

Lalhuma said the RTI was a very powerful too

to check corruption in the society. He sai

transparency in the system would elevate th

stature of good governance and the same coul

be achieved if there was political will. H

advised the Public Information Officers (PIO

not to harass the public unnecessarily whil

seeking information.

He also asked the gathering to ponder on wh

Tuensang district had the highest number of RTapplicants with 220 in 2011-12 while Kohim

and Dimapur districts with many “intellectuals

had just 63 and 55 applicants respectivel

during the same period.

The resource persons of the 3-day trainin

programme included Dr. S. Rongse

Longkumer on concept and salient features o

RTI Act 2005 and role of public informatio

officers and assistant public informatioofficers; Dr. Hovithal N.Sothu on the topi

obligation of the public authorities and role o

appropriate government and classification o

information; L.Youdang Jamir on appeals &

penalties, appellate authority fee structure an

time limits and W. Ezung on how to handle RTand effective implementation of RTI Act.

Supreme Court stays part of its verdict o

appointments in Information Commissions

New Delhi: While hearing an interim

application filed by former Informatio

Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi and activis

Aruna Roy, the Supreme Court has stayed a par

of its own judgment in Namit Sharma v. Unio

of India (2013(1) SCC 745) which mandate



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that only a sitting or retired Chief Justice of a

High Court or a Supreme Court judge could

head the Central and State Information

Commissions.

The stay order was passed on 15th April 2013 by a Division Bench of Justices A.K.Patnaik and

A.K.Sikri and it will continue during the

pendency of the review petition filed against the

judgment in Namit Sharma [Review Petition (C)

No. 2309 of 2012.] The apex court passed the

interim order, saying it will be subject to the

outcome of the petitions filed by the Centre and

others seeking review of its verdict on

appointment of information commissioners.

"We make it clear that subject to orders that may be finally passed after hearing the review

petitions, the competent authority will continue

to fill up the vacant posts of information

commissioners in accordance with the Act and

in accordance with the judgement ... except sub-

paras which we have stayed.

"This is to ensure that functioning of the

information commissioners in accordance with

the Act and the judgement is not affected during

the pendency of the review petitions," it said.

The stayed sub paras of the apex court

September 13, 2012 judgement had stipulate

that information commissions should work i

benches of two members and each bench shoul

comprise of a legally trained member, who is t

be appointed in consultation with the ChieJustice of India and chief justices of the hig

courts of states concerned.

The bench also clarified in its order that "th

chief commissioners already functioning wi

continue to function until the disposal of th

review petitions". For detailed information

please visit our website http://www.nfici.org.

If information is denied, first appeal is th

lawful remedy

Bangalore: Applicants seeking informatio

under the Ri ght to Information Act canno

directly approach the State Informatio

Commission on being refused information b

public information officers (PIOs). The Hig

Court of Karnataka ruled that applicant wi

have to first exhaust the lawful remedy unde

the provision for the first appeal before the firsappellate authority within the public authorit

concerned And, the State Informatio

Commission cannot directly entertain

complaint against the PIOs or initiate actio

against them for refusing to provide informatio

http://www.nfici.org/




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if the complainant has not used the first appeal

provision.

Justice S. Abdul Nazeer of the High Court

issued the directions while allowing petitions

filed by Bangalore Electricity Supply CompanyLtd. (BESCOM) and three of its officers. The

petitioners had challenged the action of the State

Information Commission in imposing a penalty

on the officers besides permitting the applicant,

S. Naresh Kumar, to inspect the records that he

had sought through PIOs of Bangalore

Electricity Supply Company Ltd. (BESCOM).

While original applicant had claimed that he had

approached the State Information Commission

as the authorities failed to provide him theinformation, BESCOM contended that its

officers had provided the information to the

applicant.

It was contended on behalf of BESCOM that the

applicant should have approached the first

appellate authority, and the State Information

Commission cannot entertain a complaint when

the applicant had not availed himself of the

appeal provision.

The High Court said, “The procedure adopted

by the first respondent Karnataka State

Information Commission is clearly not

permissible in law. If the second respondent i.e.

original applicant is aggrieved by the PIO, then

he has lawful remedy available to file an appeal

under Section 19(1) before the first appellate

authority and if aggrieved by the action or

inaction of the first appellate authority, then has

to file an appeal under Section 19(3) before thesecond appellate authority. Filing of an

application under Section 18(1) of the Act

complaining of alleged inaction of the PIO is

clearly not permissible in law.” For detailed

information, please visit our websitehttp://www.nfici.org.

All Central ministries will now accept

online RTI applications

New Delhi: Filing online RTI applications in a

central ministries and departments through

common web-based platform has now become reality. This facility is now available only for 4

ministries, departments and commissions.

Now, the government will extend this facility t

all central institutions, including ministrie

departments and commissions, which ar

covered under the Right to Information (RTI

Act, 2005.

The minister of state for personnel, V

Narayanasamy, formally launched this facilithere on 22

ndAugust.

The government had launched an exclusiv

portal, https://rtionline.gov.in, for this purpos

earlier this year, initiating this facility only fo

the questions asked from the ministry o

personnel. This facility was subsequentl

extended to other ministries, including home

health, external affairs and agriculture, Presiden

Secretariat, Union Public Service Commissio(UPSC) and the Vice-President's Office.

The portal is now open to entertain question

under the RTI Act for all the remainin

ministries. The entire website is prepared i

such a way that the system would provide onlinreply to all RTI applications.

This portal, developed by NIC, is a facility fo

Indian citizens to file online RTI application

and first appeals and also to make onlin payment of RTI fees.

A department of personnel and training (DoPT

note said, "The prescribed fees can be pai

through Internet banking of State Bank of Indi

and its associate banks as well as by credit o


https://rtionline.gov.in/

https://rtionline.gov.in/




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debit cards of Visa or Master, through the

payment gateway of SBI linked to this site".

The RTI Act mandates timely response (within

30 days) to citizens' requests for government

information. An information-seeker has to pay a

fee of Rs 10 for getting the information.

Giving details of the guidelines for information-

seeker, the department said that the text of the

application that can be uploaded at the

prescribed column (on the website) was limited

to 500 words only. "In case, an application

exceeds more than 500 words, then it can beuploaded as an attachment," it said.

If additional fee is required, covering the cost

for providing information, the CPIO will

intimate the applicant about the same through

the portal. The first appeals filed through the

website will also reach electronically to the

nodal officer of the DoPT who would transmit

the appeals to the First Appellate Authority(FAA).

"Though optional, the mobile number can be

provided by the applicant/appellant in order to

receive SMS alerts. On submission of an

application, a unique registration number will be

issued, which may be referred by the applicant

for any future reference," said the department

guidelines.

No RTI fee is required to be paid by any citize

who is below poverty line as per RTI Rules

2012.

4,222 RTI applications in Mizoram since

2006

Aizawl : Mizoram Information Commissio

(MIC) and the Indian Institute of Publi

Administration (IIPA) -Mizoram Regiona

Branch yesterday organized a workshop o

Right to Information Act-2005 at Zarkawt YMA

Recreation Centre Hall here in Aizawl.

Mizoram Chief Information Commissioner La

Dingliana gave a detailed explanation on th

meaning an

implication of RT

Act-2005 and how

it came to be use

in India an

Mizoram. “I

Mizoram, from

2006-2007 tiAugust 20 this year, 4,222 RTI application

have been received,” he said.

Stating that this legislation was formulated wit

the objective that the common people in a tru

democratic government may know th

government systems, he said the RTI is bein

used in 90 countries in the world.

“RTI is a tool by which the people may hel

prevent corruption and misuse of power by thelected representatives as well as th

government servants. It is also a law by whic

one may seek information related to th

government,” the Chief InformatioCommissioner said.



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Lal Dingliana also said that in order to make the

most use of the RTI, the people on their part

need to know all the rules associated with it,

adding, in this connection, RTI Awareness

Campaign has been organized a number of times

within the State.

He also mentioned that in partnership with

Information and Public Relations (I&PR)

Department, RTI Week has been organized

since 2011 in Aizawl and other District

Headquarters.

To widen the knowledge of the people and the

government workers, Guidelines for State Public

Information Officers and Information

Seekers/Appplicants, Guidelines for PublicAuthorities- State Public Information Officers

and State Assistant Public Information Officers,

Guidelines for Information Seekers/Appplicants

and Guidelines for Public Authorities: DAAs;

SPIOs; SAPIOs have been published in the form

of booklet by Mizoram CIC, he added.

Beneficiaries of PM relief fund should not

be disclosed: CIC

New Delhi : The Central Information

Commission has allowed the PMO to withhold

information on beneficiaries of Prime Minister's

Relief Fund saying assistance given out of this

fund cannot be classified as subsidy which

needs to be disclosed under the RTI Act.

"We understand that the Prime Minister's Relief

Fund does not receive any budgetary assistance

from the Central Government or from any of the

central government public undertakings and isfully made of voluntary donations given byindividual citizens or private bodies.

"Therefore, the assistance given out of this fund

cannot be classified as subsidy at the same level

at which other subsidies are treated," Chief

Information Commissioner Satyananda Mishr

said.

The case relates to SC Agrawal who sough

details of assistance given from the relief fun

on the recommendations of the then Speaker oLok Sabha. Agrawal argued that anybody wh

wanted an assistance from a public fund shoul be prepared to get his name known to the public

"The fact is that when an individual citizen

often in an indigent condition, seeks assistanc

from the Prime Minister's relief fund, he doe

not expect that this fact would be advertised i

the public," Mishra said.

"Had the Prime Minister's relief fund beecreated out of funds provided by the centra

government from out of its budget, th

assistance should be treated like any othe

subsidy and fully covered under the provision

of Section 4(1)(b) of the Right to Informatio

Act and, even, pro-actively disclosed. Here, it i

not so," he said.

PMO refuses to release files on Netaji

widow, daughter

Kolkata : Turning down an RTI appeal, th

Prime Minister's Office has said releasing secre

files about Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's widow

Emilie Schenkl and daughter Anita Bose maupset relations with foreign countries.

Chandrachur Ghose who runs the websit

www.subhaschandrabose.org had appeale

under the RTI Act to provide access to letter

written by Netaji's widow and daughter to thgovernment.

"The three files in question are classified an

disclosure of the documents contained in them

would prejudicially affect relations with foreigcountries," the PMO said in its reply.

http://www.subhaschandrabose.org/

http://www.subhaschandrabose.org/



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Signed by Rajeev Topno, director (PMO), the

response said these files were therefore exempt

from disclosure under Section 8(1)(a) read with

section 8(2) of the Right to Information Act,

2005.

"Based on the reasons given above, no further

action is called for on your appeal and the sameis accordingly disposed of," it said.

Ghose, who is writing a biography on the leader,

said the life and times of Netaji, who had

disappeared in 1945, is a mystery since many

files relating to it are held by various

government departments.

In an earlier disclosure under the RTI appealmade by 'Mission Netaji', a Delhi-based research

trust, the PMO had admitted that it was holding

33 secret files on Netaji.

"The only reason why the Government is able to

keep files about Netaji secret in this age and

time is that there is no one to apply pressure on

it. No political party of consequence or a state

government stands up for Netaji today, unlike

other national icons such as Bhagat Singh,

Sardar Patel and Babasaheb Ambedkar," said

Anuj Dhar, author of two books on Netaji.

When under house arrest by the Britishers,

Netaji had escaped from India in 1941 to seek

international support for India's freedom

struggle. After organising the Indian National

Army with Japanese help he went missing in

1945, giving birth to India's most debated and

puzzling mystery.

The Mukherjee Commission had rejected the

opinion that he died in a plane crash in Taiwan

on August 18, 1945.

Army housing body comes under RTI Ac

rules CIC

New Delhi : The Central Informatio

Commission (CIC) has ruled that the Arm

Welfare Housing Organization is an extensioof the Army and comes under the ambit of th

Right to Information Act.

"We hold that the AWHO, though on paper

separate entity, is nothing but an extension o

the Army by virtue o

being under the a

pervasive contro

of senior servin

Army officers

including the AG

We, therefore, hold that the AWHO is publi

authority under... the RTI Act," the commissio

said.

The full bench of the commission comprisin

chief information commissioner Satyanand

Mishra and information commissioners M L

Sharma and Vijay Sharma said regula

deputation of Army officers to AWHO on th

terms and conditions determined by the defencministry also reinforced the impression that i

quintessence the AWHO was an Arm

organization.

AWHO was opposing bringing it under th

ambit of the RTI Act arguing that it was

society registered with the Registrar of Societie

with the objective of providing dwelling units t

serving and retired Army personnel and theiwidows on 'no profit no loss' basis.

Aided education institutions come under RT

Chennai : In a significant order with far

reaching consequences, the Madras High Cour

has brought aided private educationa



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institutions under the ambit of the Right to

Information (RTI) Act.

The case pertains to the Thiagarajar College of

Engineering in Madurai and the court held that it

was indeed a ‘public authority’ as defined in theRTI Act and hence could not deny information

with regard to its functioning to those who seek it.

Given that Tamil Nadu has a number of such

aided private institutions whose functioning has

time and again been questioned by

educationists, the order clearly provides an

opportunity to usher in greater transparency.

Thiagarajar College of Engineering receives aid

from the State government for payment of salaryto teaching and non-teaching staff.

In 2009 one T K Ravindranath made an

application under the RTI Act seeking

information on the fee structure of certain

courses. In reply the college registrar maintained

that the institution was not a ‘public authority’

and hence did not fall under the purview of the

RTI Act. An appeal was preferred by

Ravindranath with the Tamil Nadu Information

Commission, which directed the college to provide the information.

Subsequently, the college filed the current writ

petition challenging the order.

Senior counsel G Masilamani, appearing for the

college, argued that the commission had pre-

determined the status of the college on the basi

of the letter head which declared it to be

government-aided college without givin

sufficient chance for the college to make it

case.

He said that college was not a government bod

or an instrument of the State, which alone can b

brought under the purview of the Act an

though the college received 37 per cent of th

total expenditure as aid from the government,

could not be deemed as substantial funding.

Counsel for the respondents contended that th

college was indeed substantially funded by th

government. Once aid is received from th

government, that alone is sufficient to hold thait is a public authority, the counsel submitted.

Passing orders, Justice S Manikumar observe

that imparting education was not an independen

activity. It is an activity supplementing th

principal work carried out by the State throug

the educational institutions established by it.

The judge held that any interested person coul

seek information on how grant-in-aid was spen

“If the college receives any concession from th

government or receives a grant or sanction fo

disbursement of fee concession to any under

privileged person and if the same is not full

paid or is partly paid, then the aggrieved studen

or any person, with a pro bono interest can see

information,” Justice Manikumar said.

As such, the judge held that the college could b

brought under the ambit of the RTI Act an

dismissed the petition.

IFFCO does not come under RTI Act

CIC

New Delhi : Indian Farmers Fertilise

Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) does not fit in th

definition of public authority and cannot com



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under the purview of RTI Act because subsidy

cannot be construed as substantial financing, the

Central Information Commission has held.

A full-bench of the Commission pondered over

the issue of government's financing of thefertliser manufacturer to conclude that Union

government had high financial stakes in the

paid-up share capital till 2004 but does not have

any stake at present as it remitted the capital in

that year.

The Bench of Information Commissioners

Sushma Singh, Basant Seth and M L Sharma

agreed that the cooperative was getting huge

subsidy from the central government but those

concessions are being given to private sector players and is not unique to IFFCO.

"The provisioning of subsidy is to keep the sale

price of fertilisers low in the open market so as

to keep it within the reach of farmers. Subsidy is

not a grant. It is only a mechanism to pay the

difference between the cost of production and

the sale price of fertilisers," the Bench said.

The Bench said that a number of PSUs were

divested by the central government not too long

ago but they cannot be deemed to be public

authority unless there is evidence of control or

substantial financing by the appropriate

government.

"In the factual matrix of the case, it is evident

that the central government has not share capital

in IFFCO as of now. Nor has it nominated any

Director in the IFFCO's board of directors," the

bench said.

Rejecting the appeal of S C Agrawal and Dr M

Haroon Siddiqui, it said subsidy cannot beconstrued as substantial financing of IFFCO.

"We have no hesitation in coming to conclusio

that IFFCO is not a public authority unde

section 2(h) of the RTI Act," it said.

Whistleblower protected, guilty punished i

Jamnagar village

Rajkot : Rughabha Rathod - a casual labou

from Nandana village Jamnagar district an

Right to Information Act applicant wa

threatened by former village Sarpanch fo

seeking information under RTI Act.

Rughabha Rathod, then filed "voice complaint

at Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel (MAGP

which runs RTI helpline in Ahmedabad

Rughbha also lodged complaint at local policstation but advised to move to safer place t

ensure safety as Sarpanch is very close relativ

of political leaders.

MAGP referred Raghabha's voice complain

immediately with urgent note, an

documentation of the case to Gujarat Stat

Information Commission, District Superitenden

of Police and other concerned departments.

"We demanded the immediate disclosure oinformation which Rughabha sought under RT

and ensure protection of citizen. After th

intervention and intervention from Gujara

Information Commission, village Sarpanch wa

arrested," said RTI activist Pankti Jog. Jog sai

that Sarpanch was released on bail after tw

days.

Delhi Police rapped for obstructin

information on RTI query

New Delhi : The Central Informatio

Commission has slapped Delhi Police official

with show-cause notices for obstructing th

“supply of information” to a Right tInformation (RTI) petitioner.



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Petitioner Subhash Chandra Agrawal had asked

14 questions to Delhi Police in his RTI query

filed on Aug 19, 2011, regarding activist Anna

Hazare‘s agitation for Jan Lokpal bill in Delhi.

However, the assistant public information

officer (PIO) at the police headquarters (PHQ)

Aug 26 transferred the application to six

different PIOs – namely crime, west district,

east district, north-west district and north

district.

A letter dated Aug 29 by Mangesh Kashyap, the

then central PIO at the Police HQ, informed

Agarwal of the transfer which led to Agarwal

filing a petition before the CIC complaining that

police had only answered four of the 14

questions.

During the hearing, the PIOs of the six

departments informed the commission that

questions one to three and eight to fourteen

pertained to the PHQ and that they were takenaback by the transfer of the RTI query to them.

After hearing the submission and perusal of

records, the commission observed that the CPIO

of the PHQ had “obstructed the supply of

information to the appellant by transferring the

whole RTI application to the PIOs, who were

not concerned with the subject matter of the

queries”.

“It appears from records that the CPIO, PHQ,

had avoided to answer the RTI application of the

appellant and had simply transferred the same to

the PIOs… the CPIO had not even bothered to

read the contents of the RTI application,” said

the CIC.

Criticising the present CPIO at the PHQ, K.K

Vyas for failing to appear for hearing, th

commission directed him to answer all th

remaining queries within three weeks.

The CIC has issued notices to Kashyap as weas Vyas asking them to show cause why penalt

under section 20(1) of the RTI Act should not bimposed upon them.

“The habit of CPIOs, PHQ, of routinel

transferring RTI applications to the district unit

when queries clearly are to be answered by them

is a serious malady of the RTI set-up in Delh

Police headquarters,” observed the CIC.

Stop dodging RTI: State informatiocommission to HUDA

Gurgaon : The State Information Commissio

(SIC) has warned the administrator of th

Haryana Urban Development Authorit

(HUDA) to give reply to an RTI application sen

to his office and not to unnecessarily transfer

from one department to other.

HUDA administrator Praveen Kumar has bee

specifically asked to give his reply on the "pooquality of road work and rain harvestin

system."

The applicant had specifically asked whethe

Kumar was aware of the execution o

substandard work and the action taken againsthe contractor and HUDA staff.

Haryana chief information commissioner Nares

Gulati noted that the complainant had sough

information from the state public informatio

office (SPIO) of Gurgaon HUDA administrator

whereas the respondent SPIO transferred th

RTI application to various HUDA departments.

The commissioner warned the SPIO office to b

careful in future in transferring RTI application



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within the various branches of the public

authority and directed the former to furnish the

requisite information to the appellant within two

weeks. The date of hearing was June 28.

Moreover, the administrator was directed tosend a compliance report to the state

information commission by August 20.

RTI applicant Aseem Takyar said he is yet to

get a reply from HUDA administrator even after

the order.

In an RTI query dated December 25, 2012,

Takyar had sought information from the HUDA

administrator about the "substandard" work

being carried out by the authorities under hisoffice jurisdiction and what actions have been

taken to check the quality of the ongoing works.

However, no response was received either from

administrator's office or from the offices where

the application was transferred to despite filing

of first appeal.

On perusal of the RTI application, the

commission noted that the appellant had sought

information from the SPIO, office of GurgaonHUDA administrator, whereas the former has

wrongly transferred the RTI application

superintendent engineers, HUDA circle I and II

and executive engineer HUDA Division II.

Further, the superintending engineer, HUDA,

Circle I and II transferred the application to the

executive engineer, HUDA, Division Nos. I, II,

III, IV, V and VI.

The representatives of the respondents present

submit that the requisite information was

furnished to the appellants by the SE-I and all

the concerned executive engineers.

Online RTI facility now extended to MHA

Agriculture Ministry

New Delhi: In a step towards enhancintransparency, the Centre has extended facility o

e-filing of RTI applications to ministries o

Home Affairs and Agriculture.

The Department of Personnel and Trainin

(DoPT), which acts as nodal ministry fo

implementation of Right to Information Act, ha

launched-- www.rtionline.gov.in --to facilitat

e-filing of applications and payment of fees.

As a pilot project, the facility was restricted tDoPT only. "This facility is being extended t

Ministry of Home Affairs, Department o

Agriculture and Cooperation, Department o

Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries an

Department of Consumer Affairs an

Department of Food and Public Distributio

from May 22, 2013," the DoPT said in an offic

memorandum.

The Centre's flagship Right to Information Ac

which was enacted in 2005, mandates timelresponse -- within 30 days-- to citizen request

for government information. One has to pay

fee of Rs 10 for seeking information.

The portal, developed by NIC, is a facility fo

Indian citizens to online file RTI application

and first appeals and also to make payment ofees for seeking information.

The prescribed fees can be paid through Interne

banking of State Bank of India and its associat

banks as well as by credit or debit cards of Vis

or Master, through the payment gateway of SB

linked to this site, it said.

http://www.rtionline.gov.in/

http://www.rtionline.gov.in/



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The government plans to extend e-filing of RTI

applications to all central ministries or

departments through the website.

However, it will not be extended for field

offices, attached or subordinate offices, it said.

The DoPT has also trained RTI nodal officers,

RTI Cell officials and National Informatics

Centre (NIC) and Information Technology (IT)

personnel attached with Ministries or

Departments for the purpose.

YASHADA's contribution to capacity

building for RTI appreciated by CIC, GoI

“YASHADA's contribution ineducating Masses about Right

to Information Act is

commendable”, said Central

Chief Information

Commissioner Shri.

Satyanand Mishra. He was

talking on the occasion of release of

YASHADA's latest book – Milestone 7 –

Journey of RTI Act. The book which was

released at the hands of Shri. Mishra is acompilation of research articles by eminent

personalities associated with RTI movement.

Chief Information Commissioner of

Maharashtra Shri. Ratnakar Gaikwad was the

chief guest for the function. Shri. Mishra said,

“Although there are many books in the country

that give information about RTI Act, this is the

first in India which gives analysis and commentson RTI movement.

Earlier, Chief Editor of the book & Director of YASHADA's Centre for Media & Publications

Shri. Rajeev Sabade gave information about the

book. DDG of YASHADA Dr. Pravin Gedam

welcomed guests. Associate Editor of the book

& Director of YASHADA's RTI Cell Shri.Pralhad Kachare proposed vote of thanks.

Article : Right to Information

Shri Jannat Husain, IAS (Retd) , Chie

information Commissioner, Andhra Prades

Information Commission

"Publicity is justly commended as a remedy fo

social and industrial diseases. Sunlight is said t

be the best of disinfectants; electric light th

most efficient policeman."

- Louis Dembitz Brandeis, former U.S. Suprem

Court Justice. Other People's Money and How

the Bankers Use It (1914)

Ever since the U.N. General Assemblrecognized freedom of information as

fundamental human right in 1946, many nation

started adopting laws assuring right to acces

information held by public authorities.

So far more than 90 countries have enacte

freedom of information laws. This is steep ris

from just 12 countries with transparency laws i

1993. That means about 80 countries enacte

these laws in the past two decades.

Right to Information is a fundamental huma

right crucial to human development and

prerequisite for the rationalization of othe

human rights, civil and political rights such a

the right to life and liberty, freedom o

expression and equality before the law an

economic, social and cultural rights such as righ

to adequate food, right to water, right to highes

attainable standard of health, right to education.

The Right to Information Act 2005 remains milestone of great importance in the evolutioof Indian democracy.

The RTI Act, as its long title suggests, sets ou

the practical regime of right to information fo

citizens to secure access to information unde

the control of public authorities in order t



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promote transparency and accountability in their

working.

Indian RTI Act is said to be one of the strong

transparency laws in the world. The procedure

for filing requests for information is so simplethat even school going students are able to seek

information under the Act

The Act has unique provisions under which

independent Information Commissions are

constituted and vested with powers to impose

monetary penalty on the Public Information

Officers to be recovered from salaries payable to

them.

No other country enacted such a strong open law before 2005. Our neighbors Nepal in 2007 and

Bangladesh in 2009 enacted Right to

Information laws which contain similar penal

provisions.

Looking back over the past eight years, it may

not be possible to conclude that the

implementation of the law has been satisfactory.

The law mandates two ways of information

sharing : proactive dissemination and reactive

disclosure of information. Though proactive

dissemination by public authorities is not up to

the mark, people have been testing reactive

disclosure by filing requests and tasting some

success.

RTI has become a friend in need, making life

easier and honorable for common people

empowering them to request and access public

services successfully.

Transparency benefits the poor greatly by

protecting their rights and dignity. Information

constantly supports their struggle for survival.

Any step to strengthen the transparency

movement will make our democracy more

people-friendly.

Published by Shri Ratnakar Gaikwad, IA

(Retd.), on behalf of :-

The National Federation of Informatio

Commissions of India (NFICI),

A.P. Information Commission,HACA Bhavan,

Opp.Assembly,

Nampally,

HYDERABAD - 500 004 Phones :- 040-23230607, 040-23230245

Fax :- 040-23230591

E-mail :- [email protected].

Editor: Shri Ratnakar Gaikwad, IAS (Retd.)

Editorial Board

1. Shri Ratnakar Gaikwad, SCIC, Maharashtra

2. Shri K.S.Sripathi, SCIC, Tamilnadu

3. Shri R.I. Singh, IAS (Retd.), SCIC, Punjab

4. Shri Lalhuma, IAS (Rtd.), SCIC, Nagaland

5. Shri N.S.Napalchyal, IAS(Retd.), SCIC, Uttarakhand

Disclaimer: NFICI has taken due care an

caution in compilation of this Newslette

Information has been obtained by NFICI from

various official sources, media, and variouwebsites for information of readers of thi

Newsletter. NFICI especially states that it has n

financial liability whatsoever to the subscribers

readers / senders / transmitters / distributors o

this Newsletter.

mailto:[email protected]

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nfici newsletter jun-jul-aug 2013

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