Officials exploiting Section 6(3) of RTI Act to deny information

Section 6(3) of the RTI Act is intended to save the applicant's effort and time if the information sought from a public authority is with another department. However, it is being exploited by several officials who refuse to furnish information and forward the application to another department or authority, writes RAJA MUZAFFAR BHAT.

—-

CITIZENS must be empowered to obtain information from the government for the promotion of transparency and accountability in a democracy. The Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, a revolutionary legislation that allows every Indian to access information from public authorities, was enacted with this aim.

The Act mandates timely response to a request for information by a citizen. Section 6 allows a citizen "to obtain any information under this Act" by requesting in writing or through electronic means accompanied by such fees as may be prescribed.

Subsection 3 of Section 6 has the noble intention of saving the applicant's effort and time if the information sought from a public authority is with another department. In such a case, the Central/state public information officer (CPIO/PIO) must transfer the application to the authority possessing the required information within five days of receiving it and inform the applicant accordingly.

However, this 'loophole' in the Act is being increasingly used by government departments to deny information to RTI applicants by passing the buck. Even if the PIO possesses the information, the application is forwarded to other public authorities mostly subordinate to the officer.

PIOs not 'posts offices'     

In Rakesh Kumar Gupta vs Central Information Commission, 2021, the Delhi High Court (HC) said that PIOs cannot "function merely as post offices", but have to provide the information sought from them.