AHMEDABAD: For the first time in the history of the Gujarat information commission (GIC), a citizen was penalized Rs 5,000 for asking 34 questions under the Right to Information Act by the state information commissioner, Ramesh Kariya.
As penalty, RTI applicant Hitesh Patel from Dharmaj town has been asked to pay the amount under “administrative charges” to the district registrar of co-operatives from whom he had sought information.
A senior official in the administrative reforms and training division, however, confirmed no such penalty provisions under the current rules enforced by Gujarat state under the RTI Act on March 22, 2010.
Under the rules, there exists no provision to penalize citizens any amount as “administrative charges”. SIC Kariya’s order, a copy of which is with TOI, also does not explain how the amount Rs 5,000 mentioned as “administrative charges” was arrived at.
Under the present RTI Act rules, 2010, an RTI applicant must pay Rs 2 per page for the information sought and Rs 20 as fee at the time of filing an application.
Applicant Hitesh Patel said, “My only fault was that I had sought a copy of records allowing Mahikantha People’s Co-operative Credit Society, Kathana to sell me bonds worth several lakhs from the district registrar of co-operatives. Is this not my right to know? The value of these bonds ranged between Rs 1,000 and Rs 50,500 in various serial numbers and hence, I had to ask them as separate questions. Why should I be penalized for that?”
In his order dated June 2 , SIC Kariya accused “the applicant and his wife of not collecting the bond amount from the society despite six intimations since 2017 and that they were repeatedly filing RTI applications and delaying the process.”
Kariya further stated that Patel sought the information in a manner “that mocks the due process, seems irrelevant and is demeaning”.
Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pehel (MAGP) member Pankti Jog adds, “In this way, any Public Information Officer (PIO) can demand an administrative charge of Rs 5,000 for providing a one-page information worth Rs 2 under the RTI Act. This should be challenged.”
Agreeing with Jog, RTI activist Pankaj Bhatt said, “The present RTI Act rules does not have any provision for penalizing citizens. The SIC has gone beyond the purview of law and rules.”
