http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/A-minor-reason-for-rejecting-RTI-query-/articleshow/6997903.cms
A 'minor' reason for rejecting RTI query
Neha Shukla, TNN, Nov 27, 2010, 12.39am IST
LUCKNOW: A 9-year-old cannot claim her right to information. Says who?
None other than UP State Information Commission (UPSIC). The order by
the chief information commissioner of UPSIC which questions the right
of a "minor" to seek information under the RTI Act has raised a
debate. The RTI experts have termed it "illegal".
The commission has ordered so in the case concerning Aishwarya Sharma,
a 9-year-old girl. She had written to the CM's office in October, 2009
complaining about the garbage dumping ground in the vicinity of her
school. She had requested the CMO to stop garbage disposal at the
spot. After she got no response, the girl filed an RTI application. It
was then that she was informed by the office that her letter was lost.
The girl filed another RTI application after this. "I asked them who
misplaced my letter", said Aishwarya, a student of Class III in a
city-based school. But she got no answer and had to file a complaint
with the SIC. And in the same matter, the commission ordered that she
cannot directly participate in the proceedings of the RTI Act.
The girl would have to get her appeals and complaints filed through a
custodian or present a proof of her being a major so that she be heard
directly, said an order by Ranjit Singh Pankaj, chief information
commissioner, UP. The said order has already been termed "illegal" by
the RTI experts and activists.
"This order is illegal," said Arvind Kejrival, RTI campaigner. "I can
share several instances where minors, even a third-standard student,
have sought information under RTI in Delhi," he said. There is no
mention in the Act that minors have to get their case represented
through a custodian. The section 3 of the RTI Act clearly mentions,
`subject to provisions of this Act, all citizens shall have the right
to information.'
The CIC's order said that since the girl is a minor, she does not come
under the definition of a major as defined under the Indian Majority
Act. The proceedings under RTI are quasi-judicial in nature. In such a
situation, no minor can directly get involved in the RTI proceedings,
be it filing of appeals or complaints. Besides, as per Civil Procedure
Code, a minor can file a complaint or appeal only through a custodian.
When contacted, Shailesh Gandhi, information commissioner (IC), CIC,
said, "The Act has been made by the Parliament and the Parliament has
not barred minors from using RTI." The person seeking information
under RTI should be a citizen of India, that is the only condition set
by the Act. The Act does not say that RTI user has to be a major or a
minor. "Even a year-old child can use RTI," said Gandhi, IC in Central
Information Commission, Delhi.
With this, UPSIC may be headed towards setting its own RTI rules.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/A-minor-reason-for-rejecting-RTI-query-/articleshow/6997903.cms
--
Urvashi Sharma
RTI Helpmail( Web Based )
aishwaryaj2010@gmail.com
Mobile Rti Helpline
8081898081 ( 8 A.M. to 10 P.M. )
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