Landmark judgments for RTI

TWO landmark judgments issued within a span of a month by Dr Suresh Joshi, Chief Information Commissioner, Maharashtra, could be considered as a turning point for the RTI movement in Mumbai. In the first case, Dr Joshi has levied a fine of Rs 5000 on the Nayab Tahsildar, A Bhatkar, who is in charge of the land department and reports directly to the district collector. The fine amount shall be deducted from his August salary, (Sunday Mid Day has acquired a copy) for not giving an adequate response to a six-month-old RTI filed by Reji Abraham, president of the United Association for Social, Educational and Public Welfare, a resident body which has been opposing what they deem a systematic acquisition of a natural water body, spread prime land, by land sharks in Charkop. According to Abraham, he had asked for the exact status of a stop work notice, issued by the government agency, on the basis of a letter by BNHS (Bombay Natural History Society) officials, confirming that the disputed water body is a host to at least 10 species of migratory and resident birds and a natural ecosystem. "We want to know what is happening. The tahsildar was asked by the collector to submit a report on the situation. Subsequently, a stop work order was issued but the construction work on the water body, which has been substantially reclaimed, is in full swing and flats are being sold in the open market," alleged Abraham. The second order, which was dispatched earlier last week, has come in response to an RTI application filed by Bandra activist, Aftab Siddique, ordering that the BMC has to locate missing land records from alternate sources like fire brigade or architects, or else face the music. "Our numerous RTI inquiries got a standard response that the relevant file was missing. Land records are the basic blueprints of the city's infrastructure and simply cannot be lost or misplaced," alleged Siddique. Confirming his judgment Dr Joshi stated that though the scope of work to create a computerised backup of scanned files is tedious and voluminous, in the long run it would prove to be a boon for the city.

Information on MLA local area development funds to be made public

Source: The Hindu http://beta.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/article15710.ece

In a landmark judgement that will ensure transparency in the utilization of MLA local area development funds, the Central Information Commission h Government to put up information on utilisation of these funds on its website.

Taking strict notice of the Delhi Governments non compliance with the provisions of Section 4 of the RTI Act which requires the Government to pro information on utilisation of public funds to citizens, Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi has issued a show cause notice to the Public Inform Development Department, which is the nodal agency for disbursement and monitoring of funds under the Delhi MLALAD scheme. In his order issued on September 2, the Commissioner noted that the PIO is guilty of not making any effort to meet the Section 4 requirements (of been ordered to ensure that this information is put up on the website of the Delhi Urban Development Department within 15 days. The CIC ordered this disclosure in response to a complaint filed by Satark Nagrik Sangathan, an NGO that works towards promoting transparency elected representatives.

Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS) had developed Report Cards on the performance of all Delhi MLAs prior to the Delhi Assembly elections in Decem cards, SNS had provided information on how MLAs had allocated their development funds.

As they faced many difficulties and delays in obtaining this information, SNS filed a complaint in August 2008 with the CIC, demanding that informa should be made available in the public domain in compliance with the provisions of the RTI Act. In the complaint, SNS had sought that project-wise

Local Area Development Scheme should be put up on the governments website and on boards in each constituency.

Over Rs. 700 crore is allocated under the Delhi MLALAD Scheme over a five year period, yet the Government has not taken any steps to proactive existence and utilization of these funds. As a result, these funds are often spent on non priority works while basic development needs of people rem Information accessed using the RTI Act shows that in many constituencies funds have been allocated for constructing fountains while residents fac said Anjali Bhardwaj, who filed the complaint on behalf of SNS.

The order of the CIC will ensure that MLA local area development funds are utilized in a consultative, participatory and accountable manner. Having these funds will enable people to meaningfully engage with their MLAs to ensure that funds are spent on their areas most pressing development ne

Cannot access medical records through RTI

Source: Indian Express http://www.indianexpress.com/news/cannot-access-medical-records-through-rti-information-panel/502866/0

The Central Information Commission (CIC) recently denied a man access to information about his fiances health and the treatment she had unde centre, claiming that a patient-doctor relationship was based on trust, which could not be breached. Dipchand Chavanriya, a resident of Ghaziabad, had filed a Right to Information (RTI) petition seeking access to the medical records of his fiance, Human Behaviour and Allied Science in Shahdara here.

The CIC, the apex transparency panel in the country, however, denied the information to Chavanriya claiming that the RTI cannot act as a detectiv history of a person.

Chavanriya had stated in his application on January 2009 that Jyotis medical problem and treatment at the psychiatric centre would affect his pers was essential that he be provided with the same.

His six questions to the Public Information Officer (PIO) D K Chakravorty included ones on the treatment, the physical problem, length of treatmen medical consultation at the hospital.

The PIO, however, claimed exemption citing fiduciary (bond of trust) relationship between the doctor and the patient, following which he appealed

Following this, the Commission dismissed Chavanriyas appeal on the ground that it is undeniable that the relationship between a patient and a do relationship hence the exemption appears to have been applied correctly.

A person cannot use RTI to breach the physician-patient bond of trust for his own personal need. But we (CIC) would consider if the information se good, for example, if he suspects if the other person has a communicable disease, which will harm the public at large, Information Commissioner S Newsline on Tuesday.

The relationship between a confessor-confessee, lawyer-client, doctor-patient, chartered accountant-client is fiduciary (bond of trust) and exempte RTI. It is information given by persons placed in an inferior position to another in a superior state, the latter thus has a duty to keep the information Hearing the case, Commissioner Gandhi observed: The appellant claims the information is important since it affects his personal life. He does not fiduciary relationship but feels that since it is important for him personally the information should be provided.

A personal motive (however) is not enough to access information exchanged in trust. The applicant has to prove that such information would serve Gandhi said. `