Landmark judgments for RTI

TWO landmark judgments issued within a span of a month by Dr Suresh Joshi, Chief Information Commissioner, Maharashtra, could be considered as a turning point for the RTI movement in Mumbai

Landmark judgments for RTI

TWO landmark judgments issued within a span of a month by Dr Suresh Joshi, Chief Information Commissioner, Maharashtra, could be considered as a turning point for the RTI movement in Mumbai.

In the first case, Dr Joshi has levied a fine of Rs 5000 on the Nayab Tahsildar, A Bhatkar, who is in charge of the land department and reports directly to the district collector. The fine amount shall be deducted from his August salary, (Sunday Mid Day has acquired a copy) for not giving an adequate response to a six-month-old RTI filed by Reji Abraham, president of the United Association for Social, Educational and Public Welfare, a resident body which has been opposing what they deem a systematic acquisition of a natural water body, spread prime land, by land sharks in Charkop.

According to Abraham, he had asked for the exact status of a stop work notice, issued by the government agency, on the basis of a letter by BNHS (Bombay Natural History Society) officials, confirming that the disputed water body is a host to at least 10 species of migratory and resident birds and a natural ecosystem.

"We want to know what is happening. The tahsildar was asked by the collector to submit a report on the situation. Subsequently, a stop work order was issued but the construction work on the water body, which has been substantially reclaimed, is in full swing and flats are being sold in the open market," alleged Abraham.

The second order, which was dispatched earlier last week, has come in response to an RTI application filed by Bandra activist, Aftab Siddique, ordering that the BMC has to locate missing land records from alternate sources like fire brigade or architects, or else face the music.

"Our numerous RTI inquiries got a standard response that the relevant file was missing. Land records are the basic blueprints of the city's infrastructure and simply cannot be lost or misplaced," alleged Siddique.

Confirming his judgment Dr Joshi stated that though the scope of work to create a computerised backup of scanned files is tedious and voluminous, in the long run it would prove to be a boon for the city.