Mumbai, October 21 The Navi Mumbai police commissionerate, it seems, is making its own rules while processing right to know applications. Of the 74 appeals it received under the Right to Information Act till September 15, it has dealt with all but without conducting a single hearing.
Appeals are filed by
RTI applicants if the information sought is denied or is incomplete or inadequate.
But now it has come to light — courtesy an
RTI application by a Vashi resident —- that though the Navi Mumbai police have no appeal pending with them, all were dealt with without calling the appellant for a hearing.
RTI activist Shailesh Gandhi agreed it was bad precedent. “It is a bad practice to not conduct hearings specially in those cases where the appeal is being subsequently denied.”
It all started when Ajay Marathe, a local resident who has filed several
RTI applications with the Vashi police, realised that in cases where he wasn’t satisfied with the information provided by the public information officer (
PIO), the first appellate authority dealt with them without calling for a hearing.
While earlier, it was Navi Mumbai police commissioner who officiated as the first appellate authority, now the responsibility has been delegated to a deputy commissioner of police (head office).
“I sought information on the number of appeals dealt with by the police commissionerate and the hearings conducted. I was surprised with their reply saying that the department did not conduct any hearings,” said Marathe.
Except for one instance when the appellate authority overruled the
PIO to provide him the information he wanted, Marathe noted, all his appeals were rejected. “Had I been given the opportunity for a hearing I could have argued my case. Not conducting a hearing deprives me of the chance of presenting my case in person,” he added.
As an example, Marathe cited his application to the Vashi police on the
voluntary disclosures that are to be made by government departments as per Section 4 of the
RTI Act. “Unfortunately even the first appellate authority denied me the information, which they had to disclose voluntarily. A hearing would have certainly avoided such a scenario,” he said.
Asked about it, DCP Shashikant Mahavarkar at Vashi offered a feeble explanation. “The hearings are conducted based on the merit of the appeal. In fact, we have now called Marathe for a hearing,” he said.
But Marathe has had enough. He has already complained to state information commissioner Suresh Joshi.
Joshi, who presided over a hearing on Friday evening, expressed displeasure at the fact that the Navi Mumbai police commissioner was not present despite being directed to be there. Joshi was perturbed by the fact that 74
RTI appeals were handled and not a single hearing conducted.
Joshi asked Deputy Commissioner of Police Shashikant Mahavarkar to tell the police commissioner to remain present along with 74 files so that he would peruse it during the next hearing on November 1.