Whispers Forum

In a lighter vein - While transparency is certainly good for the country, it produces interesting situations as illustrated in the case cited. A husband - wife relation, held pious, is now bound by the Act where officially, one cannot ask for information about the spouse, as they are "third party" to each other. Who says there cannot be someone in between husband and wife? Each of them have information which is "private" to other person. In summary, the Act which brings about openness in the society adds to privacy between the couple.
Swati

Information regarding a copy of the affidavit submitted by appellant’s wife Mrs Bhavya Sharma to the sanctioning authority for grant of maintenance allowance was denied u/s 8(1)(e) & 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act. The appellant contended that the exemption claimed by the PIO is not proper as he was seeking information about his wife so as to know if the contents of the affidavit filed by her for grant of maintenance allowance are correct or not. The CIC held that even if there is a husband- wife relationship between the appellant and the third person regarding whom he is seeking the information but under the RTI Act, a husband is considered as a third party to his wife and the same applies vice-versa. Unless and until there is an involvement of larger public interest in disclosure of the information, no relief can be given in such cases.
Comments
Section 2 (n) of the RTI Act defines ‘third party’ as a person other than the citizen making a request for information and includes a public authority. The definition of a third party is vast and everyone other than the applicant is covered under it. A relationship does not entitle an individual to overlook the privacy of the third party.
Citation: Manish Kumar v. Headquarters Northern Command in File no.: - CIC/IARMY/A/2019/138225, Date of Decision: 02/06/2021
Dr. Anuradha Verma (dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in) is an expert on RTI matters and has co-authored the books RIGHT TO INFORMATION - LAW AND PRACTICE and PIO’s guide to RTI. Apart from her weekly article here, her other articles can be read at the website of RTI Foundation of India at the link: www.rtifoundationofindia.com

Such annual yatras take place in other States also during the month of Shravan. In West Bengal, Kanwar Yatra to the temple of Tarakeshwar, a Shiva temple, is very popular. Devotees collect Gangajal from river Ganges at a place called Sheoraphuli and then walk a distance of 26 km to the temple. In normal time, daily more than a lakh of people, may be more, visit the temple in this month of Shravan. News Channels should cover all such places so that either such yatras are cancelled or restricted to minimum number of devotees.
Kumar
Revised HRA rates
Revised HRA rates should be 27%, 18% and 9% for X, Y and Z class cities respectively. Not the other way round.
K Prakash

The RTI Act has not been able to fulfill the role it was expected to play in a democracy and the case cited by you is a real testimony to it. It is usually the judiciary which delays the implementation of the different orders or take a surpentious interpretation of the RTI act as in the Girish Deshpande Judgment by the Hon'ble Supreme Court. But here it the INFORMATION COMMISSION which has failed grossly. Unfortunately, the information commission has been relegated to a post retirement vacancy by the government and when something like this happens, it is the quality of orders which is the first casuality. If real good quality orders are needed, the post of information commissioner needs to be given respect. Very few Information Commissioners across the country have any idea about the Act. This is one of the factors which is leading to the failure of the RTI Act to bring about transparency.
Puneet
Nice write-up in WIC
He is the man who handles Herculean challenges in UP. What a great personality Prashant Kumar indeed. Very nice write-up.
Atul

The applicant sought copies of all performance reviews carried out from December 2012 onwards till Mar 2014, including all performance reviews from any officer, which are taken into account for processing of the appraisal reports. The PIO denied the information u/s 8(1) ( e) and (j) of the RTI Act. The applicant contended that the respondents are likely to deny this information under the judgment of Hon’ble Supreme Court in the matter of Dev Dutt vs Union of India, but the same is not applicable as the applicant is not asking for the Appraisal report but the copies of the Performance Review (that the applicant is privy to but does not have any copy of the same). The CIC directed that the performance review from Dec. 2012 -March 2014 should be provided to the applicant under the RTI even if not generally given, as he is already privy to the same. The copy of his own disagreement note should also be given.
Comments
The order of the CIC opens the gates for disclosure of the performance reviews in case of the defence forces.
Citation: Kunal Kumra v. Directorate of Personal Services, Air Head Quarters in File no.: - CIC/IAIRF/A/2019/134503, Date of Decision: 08.07.2021
Dr. Anuradha Verma (dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in) is an expert on RTI matters and has co-authored the books RIGHT TO INFORMATION - LAW AND PRACTICE and PIO’s guide to RTI. Apart from her weekly article here, her other articles can be read at the website of RTI Foundation of India at the link: www.rtifoundationofindia.com

DEBATE (1)
It’s two way traffic depending on mutual benefits.
MSK
Modi’s social engineering in single reshuffle
The print of PM, HM and Organising Secretary Mr Santosh is very much visible in cabinet expansion and resignation and also retention as each one has included their close best MPs for excellent administrative and political reasons to expand party influence.
With this expansion, Congress party will further get marginalized by 2024 as the grand old party cannot try social engineering and include merit at such a high level as BJP under PM Modi has managed in a single reshuffle.
I D Sharma