Arunachal Pradesh Information Commission to discourage vague information practices under RTI Act 2005

ITANAGAR: A meeting of the full commission of the Arunachal Pradesh lnformation commission (APIC) was held on 08/05/2024 to share and discuss the experiences faced by the lnformation commissioners while hearing the appeal cases. The commission seriously noted that information relating to developmental projects being sought for by the applicants was pending for many years now because most of the schemes are voluminous and vague.

The commission has thoroughly discussed the provisions and ingredients of Section 6 (U, section 19 (1) and Section 19 (3) of the RTI Act,2OO5. ln order to discourage such vagueness, the commission referred the sub section (g) of section 7, in which it is written that “An information shall ordinarily be provided in the form in which it is sought unless it would disproportionately divert the resources of the Public Authority or would be detrimental to the safety or preservation of the record in question. The Commission further discussed at length the Para 37 of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India order dated 09.08.2011 passed in civil appeal no. 5454 of 2011 which was being held under ‘The Right to Information’. This right is a formidable tool in the hands of responsible citizens to fight corruption and to bring in transparency and accountability. The provisions of RTI Act should be enforced strictly and all efforts should be made to bring to light the necessary information under clause (b) of Section 4 (1) of the Act which relates to securing transparency and accountability in the working of public authorities and in discouraging corruption.

But in regard to other information, (that is information other than those enumerated in Section 4 (1) (b) and (c) of the Act), equal importance and emphasis are given to other public interests (like confidentiality of sensitive information, fidelity and judiciary relationships, efficient operation of Governments, etc. indiscriminate and impractical demands or directions under RTI Act for disclosure of all and sundry information (unrelated to transparency and accountability in the funding of public authorities and eradication of corruption) would be counter-productive or 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.

The Act should not be allowed to be misused or abused, to become a tool to obstruct the national development and integration, or to destroy the peace, tranquility and harmony among its citizens- Nor should it be converted into o tool of oppression or intimidation of honest officials striving to do their duty. The notion does not want a scene where 75% of the staff of public authorities spends 75% of their time in collecting and furnishing information to applicants instead of discharging their regular duties. The threat of penalties under the RTI Ad and the pressure of the authorities under RTI Act should not lead to employees of o public authorities prioritizing ‘information furnishing’, at the cost of their normal and regular duties.

The Commission further discussed at length about various issues like duties and responsibilities of PLOs/FAAs and advised them to exercise their power and functions as mandated by the RTI Act, 2005 for implementation of the RTI Act in letter and spirit. For vibrant implementation of the RTI Act and to avoid misuse and lingering of RTI cases, the Commission unanimously decided that henceforth the appeals filed before the Commission shall not be taken up for hearing and instead shall be recommended back to the respective FAA for adjudication at their level if, a) the information seeker does not mention in his/her application the ‘specific’ information but seeks indiscriminate and vague information like information for multiple number of years for multiple number of schemes; b) the appeals have not been adjudicated by the FAA following due process of law i.e’ by having proper hearing of the parties and/or without passing reasoned and speaking order.

It is worth mentioning that above issues were discussed many a times by the previous Commissions and the present Commission as well and implementation has already been started. This formal meeting was essential as per the public demand and made the above decision public with this full Commission meeting, informed the press release.

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