Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
Notice (8): Undefined variable: urlPrefix [APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp, line 8]latest-news-updates/rti-not-a-tool-for-oppressing-public-officials-sc-by-krishnadas-rajagopal-9536.html"/> LATEST NEWS UPDATES | RTI not a tool for oppressing public officials: SC by Krishnadas Rajagopal | Im4change.org
Resource centre on India's rural distress
 
 

RTI not a tool for oppressing public officials: SC by Krishnadas Rajagopal

The Supreme Court said the RTI Act is not meant to be a “tool for oppression” of public authorities, saying the nation cannot afford to have the honest public official bogged down with all and sundry requests unrelated to corruption.

“The nation does not want a scenario where 75 per cent of the staff of public authorities spends 75 per cent of their time in collecting and furnishing information to applicants instead of discharging their regular duties. The threat of penalties under the RTI Act and the pressure of the authorities under the RTI Act should not lead to employees of public authorities prioritising ‘information furnishing’, at the cost of their normal and regular duties,” a bench of Justices R V Raveendran and A K Patnaik.

The court said that requests for “all and sundry” information unrelated to transparency and accountability in the functioning of public authorities and eradication of corruption would render the information law counter-productive.

“It will adversely affect the efficiency of the administration and result in the executive getting bogged down with the non-productive work of collecting and furnishing information,” it said in a recent judgment.

The court was delivering the verdict allowing students to access their answersheets.

For the first time since the Act came into force in 2005, the SC has voiced apprehension about the Act being abused, saying it cannot become a “tool to obstruct the national development and integration or to destroy the peace, tranquility and harmony among its citizens”.

The bench said public officials should bear in mind the objective of the information law, which seeks to balance two conflicting interests: “One is transparency and accountability by providing access to information under the control of public authorities. The other is to ensure that the revelation of information, in actual practice, does not conflict with other public interests which include efficient operation of the governments, optimum use of limited fiscal resources and preservation of confidentiality of sensitive information.”

The SC said information seekers should not consider the exemptions listed out in Section 8 of the RTI Act as “a fetter on the right to information, but as an equally important provision protecting other public interests essential for the fulfillment and preservation of democratic ideals”.

The court said a public authority is under no obligation to part with anything not on record.

An applicant, subject to exemptions in the Act, can only access information if it is in the form of data or analysed data, abstracts, statistics, the court said.

“But where the information sought is not a part of the record of a public authority, and where such information is not required to be maintained under any law or the rules or regulations of the public authority, the Act does not cast an obligation upon the public authority, to collect or collate such non-available information and then furnish it to an applicant,” the court said.

A public authority is also not required to furnish information which require drawing of inferences and/or making of assumptions. It is not required to provide “advice” or “opinion” to an applicant, the court said.

Many public authorities, as a public relation exercise, provide advice, guidance and opinion to the citizens. But that is purely voluntary and should not be confused with any obligation under the RTI Act, it added.