Efficacy of the RTI Act : Daily Current Affairs

Relevance: GS-2: Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters, transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures.

Key Phrases: Right to Information Act, Public Information Officers, Freedom of Speech, Informed Citizenry.

Context

According to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), 99 RTI activists have lost their lives, 180 assaulted and 187 were threatened since 2006 across India. This necessitates discussing the efficacy of the RTI Act.

Background

The Right To Information (RTI) Act 2005 sets out the rules and procedures regarding citizens’ right to information. It was enacted in order to consolidate the fundamental right in the Indian constitution ‘freedom of speech’.
The issues such as corruption and scandals, international pressure and activism, modernization and the information society etc. caused its enactment in 2005. It is set to complete 17 years this October.

Key provisions of the Act

The Act provides a definition of Information and what constitutes Public Officials for the purpose of the Act.
Section 4 requires suo motu disclosure of information by each public authority. This provision is to empower the citizens to make informed decisions.
Section 8 (1) mentions exemptions against furnishing information under RTI Act. This is to save critical and strategic information from going out of context.
Section 8 (2) provides for disclosure of information exempted under the Official Secrets Act, 1923 if a larger public interest is served.
The Act provides for the appointment of Information Commissioners at Central and State levels and a designated Public Information Officer responsible to give information to a person who seeks information under the RTI Act.

The cause of sufferings of applicants

Sarthak Nagrik Sangathan (SNS) 2021 Report highlights a damning indictment of the various Information Commissions acting as a major bottleneck in effective implementation. Various issues have led to this conclusion such as :
- A huge backlog of second appeals
- Commissions have been plagued with vacancies and untrained staff.
- Some of the state commissions continue without chiefs and most of them become parking slots for ex-bureaucrats.
- Lengthy wait time for hearings
- Hesitancy in posting penalties
- Increasing opacity in the working of the commissions
- Poor choice of commissioners
- A non-cooperative set of public information officers (PIOs).

The attitude of PIOs

Apart from their general inexperience and unprofessionalism, they threaten RTI activists who seek information to expose corruption e.g. in June, a contractor was murdered in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, for asking too many questions relating to the public works department.
Any serious RTI query or one which concerns more than one government department requires intervention by higher officials, but it is the PIOs from junior ranks who attend hearings and are often clueless.
While RTI is lauded in public, it faces fierce opposition from many within the bureaucracy and the lawmakers, the two key stakeholders of the RTI regime.
The excuse for this kind of attitude of government officials is the number of inane queries or those with perverse motives. But in reality, such queries constitute only around 4 percent of the total appeals.

Data and Statistics

As of June 30, 2021, 2.56 lakh appeals were pending with 26 information commissions in the country.
It will take six years and eight months to dispose of a matter in Odisha, as per the going rate - SNS report.
The audacity of PIOs in some cases is confounding e.g. an information commissioner of Madhya Pradesh issued an arrest warrant in the name of a PIO for flagrant violation of 38 summons to appear for commission hearings and non-compliance with SIC orders.
Several RTI cases are embroiled in judicial procedures. High courts are quick to give stay orders on CICs’ decisions.

Issues with the 2019 amendment

The downgrading of the status and tenure of the information commissioners - the government department is negligent in taking disciplinary action against the PIO.
With CICs downgraded in rank, there will be fewer and fewer notices served to the heads of departments and senior officers to appear and answer queries.

Remedies

A code of conduct must be evolved for the central and state information commissioners.
It is imperative for the commissioners to keep a strict distance from government heads and officialdom.
Key stakeholders seem to be losing their enthusiasm and it is now up to the public, civil society, media, courts and finally the commissioners themselves to shore up the sagging morale of the RTI set-up.
The Act clearly states that the final appeal lies with the information commissions, so the appeals in High Courts which are masked as writs to obtain relief from high courts, must be dealt with by ICs only.

Observations of the Supreme Court

In DDA vs Skipper Construction (P) Ltd, SC observed that High Courts must resist the temptation to exercise their writ jurisdiction in order to correct errors made by the SICs/CICs.
If the High Court quashes a CIC/SIC order, it must categorically find that the order was without jurisdiction or palpably erroneous.

Way Forward

Even now, RTI crusaders are unearthing huge amounts of information of public interest and a few commissioners are standing tall, giving bold decisions benefiting the public and society at large.
The RTI Act is sunshine legislation aimed at eradicating corruption and promoting transparency. It needs to be bolstered by raising awareness amongst the people and organizing rigorous training of government officials.
A strong political system is a must for the RTI regime to flourish.
It is imperative to ensure freedom of the press and democratic institutions, punish errant officials and maintain complete autonomy of the information commissions, in the interest of the people and the nation at large.
As India emerges as a global power, the implementation of legislation like the RTI Act will be under the constant scrutiny of the comity of nations.

Source: Indian Express

Mains Question:

Q. The efficacy of the RTI Act is threatened by opacity, and opposition from bureaucracy and lawmakers. Discuss. [150 Words].