Lawfully Yours: By Retired Justice K Chandru |If RTI rejected, statutory second appeal can be made before CIC

If RTI rejected, statutory second appeal can be made before CIC

Under the RTI Act, I sought the break-up details of a vacant land owned by Southern Railway on the eastern side of Tambaram Sanatorium Railway station, which is being used as a vehicle parking space. I also inquired about the break-up details of land acquired by SR in three adjacent revenue villages, and the purpose for which this land was acquired. However, the request was rejected under Section 8(1) (j) of the RTI Act, 2005, saying that the information sought pertained to land details and did not involve any larger public interest. It said that disclosure of such details may serve individual interests rather than the public at large, and thus, it does not warrant disclosure. However, the appeal filed under clause 19(1) of the RTI Act, 2005, by no stretch of imagination, can be categorised as ‘personal information’. Now, since the request through the RTI Act has been rejected, my interest is to know whether there is any available option to escalate the matter to the Information Commission.

-- P Viswanathan, Chitlapakkam, Chennai

The statutory second appeal can be made before the Central Information Commission (CIC). Many times, the Information Commission has acted independently and directed the information to be furnished. The CIC at the Centre has even directed the Chief Justice of India to furnish certain details for which privacy rights were claimed by them.

File PIL before High Court if civic authorities are indifferent

Upcoming elections appear to activate the political parties and the government departments. However, they appear to exhibit that they are doing a lot, but without putting proper thought into it. To point out an instance in Madhavaram (Ward 28), where people had cried foul against the administration for not providing potable water despite fleecing the residents with taxes. To one of the complaints, they had said that work is in progress, and to prove that, they opened the defunct pipelines. Most of the streets saw water gushing out from beneath the tarmac roads. Gallons of water were wasted, but no one inspected where it was leaking. After an hour or so, they closed the pipeline, maybe to show that inspection is being done. The only thing we saw was the wastage of water, and no inspection by officials. If this is the state of affairs, how can we hold the authorities responsible?

--Merin D'Souza, Thapalpetti

Please don't mention about wastage of water since such things do take place all over the city due to many factors, including bad pipelines. If you think the civic authorities are indifferent and the water supply is not proper, and if you are an affected resident, send a notice through an advocate and file a public interest litigation before the High Court.