RTI activists seek info on petitions filed with CIC

NEW DELHI: Following an ET report on October 9 on a sharp fall in the number of cases registered in Central Information Commission, concerned citizens, NRIs and RTI activists have submitted a petition to CIC to publish data on number of cases registered and sent back by the Commission.

Over 2,152 concerned citizens, including 282 NRIs and prominent personalities like former information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi and RTI activist Anil Galgali, have signed a petition appealing CIC to bring transparency in its working.

The petition says, "Since the Commission has not published the data of cases rejected at the registry level, we have reason to suspect that it is something it wants to hide. CIC is the final appellate authority, which an applicant turns to for accessing his right to information. If s/he is turned away on flimsy bureaucratic grounds, it completely defeats the purpose of RTI. It is in India’s interest that we make positive strides towards transparency by opening up more data, rather than taking steps backwards by putting up hurdles."

The petition was submitted to chief information commissioner Vijai Sharma by RTI activist Lokesh Batra on Monday.