PANAJI: Disposing a recent appeal before it, the Goa State Information Commission (GSIC) held that under Right to Information(RTI), proceedings abate on the death of complainant.
The case pertains to an application filed by Choka Chodankar in 2011, asking information about NOCs given for retail liquor trade in a village in Goa. The panchayat secretary of the village had submitted a letter notifying death of the complainant in 2016. The daughter-in-law of the complainant had also requested the GSIC to close the proceedings.
State Information Commissioner Juino De Souza observed in his order that though “no rules are prescribed under the Goa State Right to Information Rules, as in case of the Central Information Commission (management) Regulations, 2007, or some of the State Commission Rules. Nevertheless, it was the opinion of this commission that RTI is a personal right of the information seeker and therefore cannot devolve on heirs or anyone else.”
He added, “In fact RTI is not a material thing to be passed on the legal heir or anybody else. They can make a fresh application asking for the same information.”
