a am forwarding a mail from convener of recenty formed rti group -*RTI
Council of* *U.P.* for your valuable comments on the topic.
specifically i would like to have comments of arvind kejriwalji ,
niraj kumarji and bimal khemaniji , who are in the " MARGDARSHAK
MANDAL " of this Council.
regards
urvashi sharma
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Akhilesh Kumar Saxena <akhileshsaxena09@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 3 Dec 2010 16:52:57 +0530
Subject: Every Citizen Have Right to Information
To: urvashi sharma <rtimahilamanchup@gmail.com>
Cc: Himanshu Swarnkar <himan.swarn@gmail.com>, abhishek kumar
<abhishek.glamartist@gmail.com>, nirajklko <nirajklko@yahoo.com>, rti
nirajlucknow <nirajklko@gmail.com>, alokqr <alokqr@gmail.com>,
patrakarsadan <patrakarsadan@gmail.com>, jusufkabir
<jusufkabir@gmail.com>, IZHAR AHMAD <rti.lucknow@rediffmail.com>,
Izhar Ansari <izharansari@rtiactiongroup.org>, rti youth
<rti.youth@gmail.com>, "mahendra@ PROJECT VIJAY"
<mps.simco@gmail.com>, Anil Jani <aniljani1008@rediffmail.com>, bimal
khemani <bimal.khemani@yahoo.co.in>, Parivartan India
<parivartan_india@rediffmail.com>, aksri80 <aksri80@gmail.com>, neel
kamal <shvfoundation@gmail.com>
Dear Urvashi Ji,
In my humble opinion , the CIC of UPSIC is right in his decision . It is
accepted that if a particular law is silent on some provision , then such
interpretation can be drawn from other laws prevailing and referring to such
provisions . RTI Act is silent on " minimum age of the applicant " but other
laws are not which require a deponent to be a major above 18 years of age ,
of sound mind .
It has to be kept in mind that Applicant will soon be Appellant and
Complainant which would require him or her to verify the contents of his
pleadings in appeals and complaints . Verification of legal or quasi-legal
documents require knowledge and capacity to take CONSIDERED independent (
non-tutored) decision - sound mind . A child of tender age can not be
trusted with such decision making .
While the law does give one a right , but at the same time it stipulates one
to use that right judiciously without disrupting the harmony in the system .
Now consider a wrong or frivolous application , Appeal and Complaint by such
child . Issue of information is certainly there , but just imagine the
wastage of time , man-power to the system by some unwise queries . The PIO ,
AA , Commission shall all be scratching their heads just to make the kid
understand the wisdom of their decisions ( though most sane people find it
difficult to understand the wisdom of such decisions many times - just a
joke ) .
Just image - kids sending RTI Applications to school asking why mobiles are
banned in exams , why they have to wear dress , why school does not start
after they get up at 11 AM and the like ...the list can be mind-boggling .
But at the same time, I do not underestimate the significance of queries
raised by some kids . They are capable of raising such issues which can
shake you no ends because these come from unadulterated minds . In such
cases some mechanism should be evolved that the issues of kids can be taken
up suo moto at some level like the Hon'ble High Courts are doing for the
cause of social justice or the Applications to be entertained through an
appointed master in the school or the like . How it will work can be debated
and a mechanism evolved . RTIAct and very basic provisions of IPC , should
be included in syllabus at 8th class level so that they can start filling
RTI Apps when they are 14-15 years , DoPT may certify such RTI KIds after
training them for 2-3 months .
In nutshell , I would be happiest person if kids just know what is
corruption and how it is eating into the national resources . They should be
able to ask - "dad ! how did you purchase the Audi ?"
Purpose of RTI Act would be full-filled ..
I think we need to separate 2 issue - whether a minor CAN make an
application under the RTI Act, and whether a KID should be so allowed.
As far as the validity under present law is concerned, I think the law is
clear enough - section 3 proclaims that All citizens have right to
Information. As RTI Act does not define 'citizen', we can safely infer that
it is the citizen as defined under the Citizen Act, 1955. If the legislature
had intended to confer this right on adults only, it could have very well
said so clearly in the law itself. Neither courts nor the ICs have any right
to put words and stipulations into the act where they do not exist.
On the issue of desirability of kids asking questions under RTI, though I
fully respect your right to hold that view, I disagree with you. About the
objections raised by you, *please note *that anything starting with 'why' is
automatically rejected, without reading any further. And there are
sufficient provisions in the law to protect public authorities to protect
from 'wrong or frivolous' questions, by children as well as adults.
Regard's
Akhilesh Saxena
Convener-*RTI Council of* *U.P.*
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