The Hindu Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh with Chief Information Commissioner Satyananda Mishra
at the inaugural session of the 7th Annual Convention of Central Information
Commission in New Delhi on Friday. Photo: Rajeev Bhatt
“Frivolous, vexatious use of RTI
Act serves little productive social purpose, is a drain on public
resources”Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday called for maintaining a
“fine balance” between the Right to Information (RTI) and the right to privacy,
the latter of “which stems out of the Fundamental Right to Life and liberty.
The citizens’ right to know should definitely be circumscribed if disclosure of
information encroaches upon someone’s personal privacy.”He announced that the
government was considering the “issue of [enacting] a separate legislation on
privacy” — an expert group, headed by the former Chief Justice of the Delhi
High Court, Justice A.P. Shah, was working on it.Dr. Singh’s views on an
individual’s privacy are significant, coming in the wake of recent statements
made by Union Ministers in support of Robert Vadra, Congress president Sonia
Gandhi’s son-in-law, following RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal’s accusations
against the dealings of the company owned by Mr. Vadra with housing major DLF.
They had termed it as “an issue between two private individuals.”The Prime
Minister, who was inaugurating the seventh annual convention of Information
Commissioners here, said: “There are concerns about frivolous and vexatious use
of the [RTI] Act in demanding information, the disclosure of which cannot
possibly serve any public purpose. Sometimes, information covering a long
time-span or a large number of cases is sought in an omnibus manner with the
objective of discovering an inconsistency or mistake which can be criticised.
Such queries, besides serving little productive social purpose, are also a
drain on the resources of the public authorities, diverting precious man hours
that could be put to better use.”Dr. Singh also spoke of there being concerns
regarding possible infringement of personal privacy while providing information
under the RTI Act. He wanted the convention’s delegates to address issues like
how much information entities set up in the Public Private Partnership mode
should be obliged to disclose under the RTI Act. “Blanket extension of the Act
to such bodies may discourage private enterprises from entering into
partnerships with the public sector entity. A blanket exclusion on the other
hand may harm the cause of accountability of public officials.”
Constructive Dr. Singh said he believed that everyone shared a responsibility to
promote a more constructive and productive use of the RTI Act. “This important
legislation should not be only about criticising, ridiculing, and running down
public authorities. It should be more about promoting transparency and
accountability, spreading information and awareness and empowering our
citizen,” he said.There was also a need to change perceptions about the RTI. It
should not be viewed as an irritant, “but something that is good for us
collectively,” the PM said.
Role of an umpire”Chief Information Commissioner Satyananda Mishra felt excessive
“judicialisation” of Information Commissions would deprive them of a flexible
style of functioning. The approach of the Commissions, he said, had always been
to act as an umpire standing right on the field along with the players, and not
to sit on a pedestal and pronounce oracles.
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