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RTI: new rule restricts quantum of information

Special Correspondent

It’s an unlawful limitation, says consumer rights activist

BANGALORE: It has come to light that the Karnataka Information Commission (KIC) recommended that the State Government amend the Karnataka Right to Information (RTI) Rules 2005 to restrict the quantum of information sought in a single application.

This was discovered by Y.G. Muralidharan, consumer rights activist and founder of Consumer Rights Education and Awareness Trust (CREAT), who evoked the RTI Act only to receive this startling piece of information.

“Having grown in a culture of secrecy, the tendency to find reasons for denying information to the citizens is not surprising. But one never expected that the KIC would advise the Government to take the drastic step of amending the rules, which cuts the roots of citizens’ right to information,” Mr. Muralidharan told The Hindu.

Notification issued

Documents obtained by CREAT revealed that the KIC advised the Karnataka Government to amend the Karnataka RTI Rules 2005 with regard to imposing restrictions on the quantum of information applicants can seek. The Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR) issued a notification to include this under Rule 14 on March 17 this year.

In December last, the KIC recommended that the Government amend the rules to restrict the number of questions and quantum of information sought in a single application.

Draft approved

Mr. Muralidharan said: “The KIC itself prepared the draft and the DPAR, Law Department, and the Government merely approved it with minor corrections, despite the RTI Under Secretary’s reservations about the State Government’s powers to issue such rules. Rule 14 not only goes against the spirit of the Act but also places restrictions on the citizens. It also gives the Public Information Officer (PIO) the authority to decide what a subject matter is under the Act.”

The amendment

According to the amendment, request for information should relate to one subject and not ordinarily exceed 150 words.

For information on more than one subject, a separate application should be made. Further, in the latter case, the PIO is expected to respond to the request relating to the first subject only and seek separate applications for each of the other subjects.

Mr. Muralidharan said: “The new rule places unlawful limitation on the fundamental right to information derived from the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19 (1) of the Indian Constitution. The RTI Act itself imposes restrictions under Sections 8 and 9, which alone are valid. By requiring the PIO to deal only with one subject in an application effectively empowers him to reject the remaining requests,” he said.

Other ways

As regards applications that do not have any public interest, Mr. Muralidharan said the RTI Act provides for dealing with such requests in Section 7 (9).

Applicants may be asked to inspect the files, seek more time to provide the documents and so on.

Converting data into electronic form is another measure that could help handle requests for voluminous information, he said.

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