The state information commission has failed to provide details about itself to a petitioner under the Right to Information ( RTI) Act. The commission is the apex body in the state to settle all disputes related to RTI.
“I was surprised when the panel’s secretary informed me last month that his department was not ready to furnish the details that I had sought in April,” said S. Khettry, president, RTI Manch, West Bengal.
He had wanted to know the number of applications filed in the state under the RTI Act and the number of cases that has been disposed of. “They asked me to visit their office and wade through documents to find out the information that I needed,” said Khettry.
A letter from the commission, dated May 21, 2007, a copy of which is with Metro, states: “…we tried our level best to furnish the information as per your seeking within the stipulated time. But since the records of the commission are maintained manually, it is disproportionately diverting resources of the office, hampering all other works.”
Ashok Mansata, RTI activist, wondered: “If the commission doesn’t have information about itself, how can we expect it to furnish information about other public bodies.”
No public body is allowed to make a declaration of its inability, according to the RTI Act. “The law is very clear. According to Section 4 of the Act, the commission cannot say that it is unable to furnish information,” said Sanjay Dwibedi, lawyer of Calcutta High Court and an RTI specialist.
“As maintenance of records is not computerised, there is a difficulty in furnishing the information. However, we have a computer operator from last Friday and we hope to complete our pending work shortly,” said a commission official.
Chief information commissioner Arun Bhattacharya, however, refused to comment. |