Govt open to reviewing RTI rules amid misuse concerns

Hans India

6 days ago

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government on Tuesday informed the Legislative Assembly that it was open to reviewing rules under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, after MLAs across party lines voiced concerns that the law was being misused by activists to 'harass' and 'blackmail' officials.
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil made the statement while replying to a question by Bailhongal Congress MLA Mahantesh Koujalagi, on behalf of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, during the Question Hour.
'RTI is a revolutionary legislation by the central government to bring transparency in administration. But, the state government can frame rules under the act. If we come to know about the misuse, we can take action,' he said.
'By reviewing the rules, if harassment can be prevented and it will benefit the RTI activists (who are genuine), we can discuss in this regard with the Chief Minister and we can do it... We will think about steps to limit the misuse of RTI.'
Raising the issue, Koujalagi said the RTI Act was enacted with good intentions, but was also being misused, and also suggested that the government consider increasing the RTI application fees.
'We see RTI applications being filed through proxies. Repeated applications are filed by some people just to harass officials. The cost per page is fixed at Rs 2, this is causing the problem. For BPL applicants, there is no fee for up to 100 pages. This is leading to a lot of misuse,' he added.
In some cases, information spanning 20 years is being sought under the RTI Act, forcing assignment of an official solely to provide details, he said and urged the government to address such issues.
In response, Patil said the government has blacklisted 26 RTI activists and noted that State Information Commissioner Ravindra Gurunath Dhakappa was dismissed after being trapped by the Lokayukta.
He, however, said no written complaints of harassment were received from officials. He also said the government would consider revising the RTI fees. Intervening, BJP MLA Sunil Kumar said RTI Act was misused by some individuals for personal gain rather than public interest.
Bijapur City MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal too remarked that RTI has become 'a big business' for some people. 'They blackmail officials, elected representatives and contractors,' he said, urging the government to investigate assets owned by RTI activists, and take action against them.
Senior BJP MLA Suresh Kumar said, RTI applicants should have a valid reason to seek information, and this should be considered while framing rules.