RTI info over 200+ pages? File another plea

RTI info over 200+ pages? File another plea

Banaskantha DDO Issues Circular Including ‘No Prejudice’ Clause

Paul John@timesgroup.com

Ahmedabad:10.02.2021

If you are in Banaskantha and the information you sought under RTI runs into more than 200 pages, you will have to file another application. You will also need to ensure that the public information officer does not “perceive” you are filing the plea to satisfy a grudge, or your RTI plea could be rejected.

These are just two of the fivepoint mantra issued by the Banaskantha district development officer that threatens to weaken the right of Gujarat’s citizens to know about government affairs. Coming on the heels of the Gujarat Information Commissioner’s controversial decision to impose a lifetime ban on a whistleblower from Amreli and ban three members of a family from filing RTI pleas for five years, these clauses in the circular have further alarmed RTI activists.

On February 2, Banaskantha DDO Ajay Dahiya issued a 27-point circular to all departments including five ‘controversial’ clauses that have raised eyebrows. These clauses bar the PIOs from parting with information if the PIO “deciphers” that the applicant, who has filed the plea, holds a grudge.

The circular also imposes a 200-page restriction. If an RTI applicant seeks copies of an officers’ property or tax returns, copies of charge sheets, show cause and warning notices, records related to conducting disciplinary action or annual confidential reports -- these will now be denied, too. For this, Dahiya has asked PIOs to rely on Supreme Court orders related to cases SLP 22609/2012 and SLP 27734/ 2012 to reject any such information sought under RTI Act. P 2

‘Attack on participatory democracy’

Bnaskantha DDO Ajay Dahiya's circular also stalled the transfer of an RTI application.

So, if information sought is not available with a particular department, the plea will not be transferred to the concerned department.

Instead, a fresh RTI application will have to be filed. “Our deputy DDO Harshad Makwana had prepared the circular with adequate legal citation. You may discuss with him for more details,” said DDO Dahiya who chose to stay away from commenting on the rationale behind including the controversial clauses. The DDO’s circular is an attack on participatory democracy, said Pankti Jog of Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel. “Information regarding misappropriation of social security scheme payments, food ration, farmers enquiring into farm disputes, can all be denied with this single circular,” Jog said.