Mr. Tarun Kanti Mishra
Odisha Chief Information Commissioner
Toshali Bhawan, Satya nagar
Bhubaneswar, Orissa
Regards
Pradip Pradhan
Odisha Soochana Adhikar Abhijan
VIM- 316, Sailashree Vihar, C.S.Pur, Bhubaneswar
E-mail- odishasoochanaadhikar@gmail.com, Web- www.orissarti.com
To
Mr. Tarun Kanti Mishra,
State Chief Information Commissioner, Orissa
Bhubaneswar
Sub- Request to review the illegal practice of arbitrarily closing the cases of Complaint and 2nd appeal and compelling the complainants and appellants to come through 1st appeal again
Dear Sir,
Over a few months now, a good number of Appellants and Complainants from across the state including myself have felt surprised after receiving the orders of Orissa Information Commission whereby our cases were unilaterally disposed and closed by the Commission by way of remanding them back to the 1st Appellate Authority along with a direction to the latter to provide the information within one month of the order so received. Besides, as per the said order, in case the complainants/appellants would fail to get the required information from the 1st appellate authority in stipulated time, they could again approach the Commission by way of filing a 2nd appeal afresh.
It needs to be mentioned here that to start with the aggrieved RTI applicants had lodged their respective complaints or second appeals around a year back in the hope of getting justice from the Commission. After the said cases remained pending for long in the office of Commission, we find to our dismay that the Commission without bothering to hear the concerned parties as required under the Act has arbitrarily and unilaterally disposed and closed hundreds of such cases by way of remanding them to the 1st Appellate Authority. Further it has been noticed that in most of such cases the concerned appellate authorities have neither cared to hear the cases nor ensured the supply of information to the concerned applicants as directed by the Commission.
As a result, a large number of complainants and appellants are now bitterly frustrated and hopeless about the role of Orissa Information Commission. The alternative option of approaching the Commission through a 2nd appeal again as suggested by the Commission is not only costly and time consuming, but also highly uncertain since they do not know when the repeat of their 2nd appeals would be taken up by the Commission for hearing and disposal.
It is pertinent here to visit Section 18 (1) of the RTI Act, as per which any person being aggrieved by non-supply of information or by supply of false, incomplete or misleading information is entitled to directly lodge a complaint before the Commission. Thus the Commission is duty bound to receive the complaints and adjudicate them through a due process of law. The RTI Act has nowhere allowed the Commission to remand the complaints for decision by the 1st appellate authority, which is covered under Section 19(1) of the Act. If necessary the Commission may take up some deserving cases for further enquiry as required under Section 18 (3) of the Act before taking a decision in the matter.
Similarly, Orissa Information Commission (Appeal Procedure) Rules 2006 has clearly laid down that the Commissions shall issue notices to both parties for giving them a reasonable opportunity of being heard before pronouncing its decision in open proceedings.
But it is woefully surprising that the Commission without hearing both parties adopts the short-circuited path of disposing and closing the cases arbitrarily and unilaterally.
Besides, the Commission's hot-haste manner of closing the cases is not only a clear violation of the RTI Act but also an attack on natural justice, to which the Information Commissioners of Orissa have been paying lip-service. Moreover, the question arises, when the Commissioners provide several opportunities of hearing in a row to the defaulting PIOs, why shouldn't they hear at least for once the complainant or appellant before remanding their cases back to the 1st appellate authority?
The huge pendency of cases, around 12,000in number in the office of the Commission is no doubt a matter of the concern. Presumably it may be a strategy of the Commission to dispose the cases quickly in order to reduce the pendency. But our experience of last five years tells that it is the lack of efficiency, knowledge and forthrightness among the Information Commissioners in respect of adjudicating the cases as per the letter and spirit of the RTI Act which is mainly responsible for increasing load of pending cases in the office of the Commission. Besides, their casual attitude towards cases coupled with their temptation to appear as speakers and guests in the so-called awareness programmes, which is clearly in violation of RTI Act are the additional factors responsible for growing pendency of cases.
Moreover, as compared to the rate of disposal of the cases by the Information Commissioners in different states and at the centre, Orissa Commissioners' rate of disposal is very poor, though Orissa Commission is more than adequately staffed and funded by the Government compared to other Commissions.. I may suggest to you to review the real reasons behind pendency of the cases in the office of the State Commission.
.
It is our well considered view that If the Commission at the present juncture continues to close the cases in such arbitrary manner as already indicated, it will not only destroy the letter and spirit of RTI Act but also kill the interest of the people in using it. Thus the dream of ushering in of a transparent and accountable system of governance by the use of RTI Act shall ever remain a distant dream for the people of Orissa.
We therefore request you to review once again all the cases arbitrarily disposed and closed and stop at once indulging in such illegal practice. May we further suggest that the Commissioners should devote more time and energy to properly hear and dispose the cases on day-to-day basis so that their disposal rate shall register a remarkable increase in days to come and the people at large can have a better feel of the Commission as a true watchdog of RTI Act in our State.
Regards
Pradip Pradhan
Date- 26.6.2011
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