11 hrs ago
Karnataka High Court Orders Digital Tracking of RTI Penalties
The Karnataka High Court wants government offices to keep better records about officials who do not properly answer RTI requests.
These records must include penalties and disciplinary action.
The information should be stored digitally by year.
Government departments should publish it on their websites when the law allows.
The Karnataka State Information Commission must create one standard format for these records.
The court said people should not have to explain why they want information.
The case was brought by RTI activist Ramesh Babu N. The Commission was given deadlines to provide information already available and to collect information from other departments.
The Karnataka High Court directed authorities to digitally maintain year-wise details of penalties and disciplinary action against public information officers.
The information must be maintained on official websites and made readily available where legally permitted.
The Karnataka State Information Commission must prescribe a standard format for collecting and maintaining the data.
The court issued the directions while partly allowing a petition by RTI activist Ramesh Babu N.
The Commission must provide available information within eight weeks and obtainable departmental information within 60 days.
- Who
- The Karnataka High Court, the Karnataka State Information Commission, government departments, public information officers, and RTI activist Ramesh Babu N.
- What
- The court ordered digital, year-wise records of RTI-related penalties and disciplinary action, along with procedures for providing requested information.
- Where
- Karnataka, including government departments, official websites, and the Karnataka State Information Commission.
- When
- The order was dated September 23; the Commission was given eight weeks to provide available information, while information from other departments must be given within 60 days.
- Why
- To make RTI implementation information easier to retrieve, report, and disclose instead of reconstructing it from individual files.
Key facts
- Court
- Karnataka High Court
- Judge
- Justice Suraj Govindaraj
- Relevant law
- Right to Information Act
- Record requirement
- Year-wise digital details of penalties and disciplinary action against public information officers
- Standardization
- The Karnataka State Information Commission must prescribe a standard format
- Available information deadline
- Eight weeks
- Information from departments deadline
- 60 days
Quotes
Karnataka High Court bench
The bench hearing the petition
“When the information concerns the implementation of the RTI Act and is capable of being maintained in a systematic form, the appropriate response is not to require the same information to be reconstructed from individual files every time a citizen seeks it. The better course is to ensure the information is maintained in a manner which permits its ready retrieval and, where appropriate, its proactive disclosure.”
indianexpress.com
“The RTI mechanism should not operate in a manner in which authorities responsible for administering the right are themselves required to spend substantial time reconstructing information, which can reasonably be maintained and disclosed in an organised form.”
indianexpress.com
Sources
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