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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | 'Centre must add purpose clause to RTI Act' by Prafulla Marpakwar

'Centre must add purpose clause to RTI Act' by Prafulla Marpakwar

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published Published on Feb 17, 2011   modified Modified on Feb 17, 2011
Given the doubts raised by a section of chief ministers, the Centre is planning to amend the Right to Information (RTI) Act to curb its misuse.

"Our information is that a group of chief ministers has approached the Centre for amending the RTI Act. In several cases, it was used to settle personal scores by rival businessmen, builders and politicians," a senior information commissioner told TOI on Wednesday.

The information commissioner said that when the Congress-led Democratic Front government promulgated an ordinance in 2004 to provide for right to information, it was specifically mentioned that a person seeking information will have to state in the application the purpose for which the information is required. When the Centre enacted the RTI Act in 2005, this particular clause on purpose was removed. , as a result, now a person can seek information on any subject, without mentioning the purpose for which he requires the information. "We feel that If the Centre wants to curb misuse, it must include the purpose clause in the act, else, we will not be able to stop misuse of the legislation. It will have to move an amendment bill in the parliament for the purpose," he said.

The information commissioner said that in Mumbai, the maximum number of applications are filed by the same group of persons. "We are bound to provide information but we don't know how it will be used," he said.

In Pune, the commissioner said, of the 2,500-odd appeals pending before the information commission, 800 are filed by 30 persons, while of the 2,200 applications filed under the RTI Act, 1,400 are by one person. "If we know the purpose for which he requires the information, we can decide his case on merit," he said.

If the Centre is serious, the commissioner said, it should ask the states to follow Karnataka government's example. "Karnataka has made it clear that an application will not have more than 250 words and that in one letter the applicant will ask questions only about one issue. This has ensured that only genuine applicants seek information," he said. Secondly, the commissioner said, the act should allow for punitive action against mala fide applicants. "While hearing the appeals, we find that the intention of an applicant is mala fide. Under the existing law, we have no power to impose a fine, in my opinion, the RTI act should be suitably amended for the purpose," he said.

Information is provided free of cost to below poverty line (BPL) applicants. In a recent case, a BPL applicant sought information on a project, which comprises 50,000 pages A non-BPL person would have had to pay for these many page. "It seems that someone was using him to get the information free of cost. We don't have the budget to provide free information for BPL applicants. Special provision should be made for the purpose," he said.

The Times of India, 17 February, 2011, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Centre-must-add-purpose-clause-to-RTI-Act/articleshow/7511579.cms


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