‘Officials rejecting RTI pleas unfit to hold post’

It further directed the Tamil Nadu Government to issue a circular to all its departments, PSUs & corporations warning about legal consequences of not furnishing information under RTI Act.

Justice S Vaidyanathan made these observations in a case that involved an RTI enquiry made in 2008, in which a person had sought information concerning vacancies in the Tamil Nadu public services and the number of seats allocated to backward communities and most backward communities between 2006 and 2008.

TNPSC refused to part with the details citing Section 8 (1)(d) of the RTI Act. It held that since caste-wise breakup of the selected candidates has got nothing to do with the public activity and such disclosure would amount to an invasion of the privacy of individuals, apart from the creation of communal discontent and strife.

However, following an appeal, the Second Appellate Authority-the TN Information Commission ruled that every citizen is entitled to a transparent view of the functioning of public authorities and the trepidation shown by the Public Authority to the demand will not be ground in denying details to the public in contra to the provisions of the RTI Act.