Bureau / Chandigarh : Usually the Public Information Officers tries to put off the supplying of the information by making unnecessary queries, which futile the very purpose for which RTI Act was enacted and the live example going now a days is this that the Public Authorities have started rejecting the R.T.I. Applications filed by the R.T.I. applicants for want of Identity Card on the flimsy ground that Government of Haryana had made it mandatory to attach a copy of I Card along with the R.T.I. Application, which is illegal on the face of it.
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On May 06, 2021, Sh. Ghanshyam Dass Gupta, Advocate from Jagadhri filed a R.T.I. Application before Block Development & Panchayat Officer & another to know the amount given by it to various institutions for construction purpose. However, one of the Public Information, denied to supply the requisite information, while informing that the State Government of Haryana vide its Notification dated April 12, 2021, conveyed vide letter no. 5/52/2016-1 AR, dated May 05, 2021 has made an amendment in the Haryana Right to Information Rules, which stipulates that an applicant seeking the information under R.T.I. Act is required to file his/her R.T.I. in “Model Form ‘A’”, along with his ID i.e. Aadhar Card, Passport, Voter Card, Pan Card, PPP ID, Government issued Identity Card.
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Mr. Gupta filed a Complaint before the State Information Commission, Haryana and after hearing the parties and perusing the law, the Ld. Lt. Gen KJ Singh, PVSM, AVSM & BAR (Retd)., Information Commissioner directed the Public Information Officer to supply the complete information to the Applicant within three days while holding that no authority can force a R.T.I. Applicant to file RTI Application in a particular form and to disclose any reason for seeking information and to submit his identity Card and the RTI Applicant has to share only that much information, which is sufficient for supplying the requisite information at his convenient address.
This Judgement will prove as a stone of mile for the information seekers and now the Public Authorities will not be able to procrastinate the supplying of information by unnecessarily questing the reason of seeking information and demanding the R.T.I. Application in particular form or by demanding the Identity Card of the Applicant.
