Shailesh Gandhi, former Central Information Commissioner and a name synonymous with Right to Information activism, spoke at an online seminar on Wednesday evening. ‘Misuse of RTI by Citizens and Public Information Officers’ by Moneylife Foundation took Gandhi’s audience into a deep dive about a powerful tool, which though, like so much else in life, can be a double-edged sword when misused. Gandhi said, “I have been an activist for quite some time now and I generally oppose people who tell me that RTI is being misused. But we should recognise that there are certain misuses that should be stopped and can easily be handled.”

The categories

The expert said, “Multiple RTI applications are being filed by broadly the following category of people. Citizens who want to improve society and suspect some wrongdoing. That is a legit use of RTI. Citizens who want to research a subject for knowledge, that too is legitimate. I tell them spread out the applications over a period of time so that the load does not become too heavy for a particular officer. Some feel they are victims of injustice and want to correct that, and so seek additional information.”