SC wants Constitution bench to decide on FIR registration

SC wants Constitution bench to decide on FIR registration

New Delhi, Feb 28 (PTI) The Supreme Court has referred to a Constitution bench to decide a crucial legal question if it is mandatory for a police officer to register an FIR on receipt of a complaint of commission of a cognisable offence or a preliminary probe was required prior to its registration. A three-judge bench of justices Dalveer Bhandari, T S Thakur and Dipak Mishra said the issue needed to be settled by a Constitution bench in view of the fact that that there were "divergent" judgements by the apex court over the years. The bench said while in some cases the apex court had ruled that registration of an FIR was mandatory, in several other cases, it was held that the police officer had the discretion in registering an FIR as he can conduct a preliminary inquiry on the veracity of the complaint. "In view of the divergent opinions in a large number of cases decided by this Court, it has become extremely important to have a clear enunciation of law and adjudication by a larger bench of this court for the benefit of all concerned - the courts, the investigating agencies and the citizens. Consequently, we request the Chief Justice to refer these matters to a Constitution Bench of at least five judges of this Court for an authoritative judgement," said Justice Bhandari, writing the judgement. The apex court made the reference while dealing with a habeas corpus petition filed by the father of a six-year-old girl who was allegedly kidnapped by miscreants in UP's Ghaziabad district on May 5, 2008, but the police allegedly demanded money for registration of an FIR.

Jagdish K Gianchandani

RTI: Former AMU VC Azis Enjoyed Free Meals Worth Rs 6.5 lakh

Interim Report by CBI and efforts of RTI activists have revealed that corruption tainted and CBI indicted former VC Azis enjoyed free meals worth Rs 6.5 lakhs (approx.) from AMU coffers. During CBI interrogation also Azis had admitted that he was illegally enjoying free meals from AMU funds since joining AMU. Interim Report by CBI has also revealed that Azis also made AMU pay for dry fruits etc. which he used to carry with him to his hometown in Kerala.

CIC tells PMO to trace Emergency records

NEW DELHI: In a move that is likely to raise eyebrows, the Prime Minister's Office said it has no records of correspondence between then President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed and then PM Indira Gandhi related to the proclamation of Emergency in 1975. The response was met with mild surprise by the Central Information Commission (CIC) that has asked the PMO to trace the records.....The issue came up after Aligarh-based Paras Nath Singh sought information related to correspondence between the PM and president on the Emergency. In its response, PMO officials said they were not able to locate records despite an "elaborate search".

for complete news pl visit http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-02-10/india/31045824_1_pmo-transparency-panel-cic

HC quashes UP govt notifications on RTI Act

PTI | 10:01 PM,Jan 25,2012: Lucknow, Jan 25 (PTI) The Allahabad High Court today quashed two notifications by Uttar Pradesh government which excluded confidential section under Home and Civil Aviation departments from the purview of RTI Act, saying restrictions imposed were excessive and beyond the powers of the state. The order was passed by a Lucknow bench comprising justices Pradeep Kant and Decvendra Kumar Upadhyaya while allowing two Public Interest Litigations challenging the notifications issued by the state government. On June 7 2009, a notification was issued excluding certain works alloted to conidential sections of the state government from the purview of RTI Act. Prior to this, one more notification was issued on March 25, 2008 which specified that the operation unit, the maintenance, security and general administration unit of the civil aviation department of the state were excluded from the applicability of the RTI Act. The court in its order observed that the RTI is part and parcel of the right to freedom of speech and expression as contained in the Constitution. Further the RTI Act gives statutory safeguard to the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed in the Constitution, which cannot be curtailed except with reasonable restrictions, it said. The court said that therefore restrictions imposed were excessive and beyond the powers of the state, which cannot be done by issuance of the impugned notifications. "For the aforesaid reason petitions are allowed and both the notifications being invalid or hereby quashed," it said.

Shailesh Gandhi Writes to Chhatisgarh CM as Legislative Assembly Hikes RTI Fee to Rs 500

Text of the letter written by Shri Shailesh Gandhi, Information Commissioner, Central Information Commission, New Delhi, to Chief Minister, Chhattisgarh, and Shri Ravindra Choubey, Leader of Opposition, is reproduced below.

------------------------------------------------------------

Dr. Raman Singh

Chief Minister

Chhattisgarh

Mantralaya

DKS Bhawan, Raipur- 492001

Chhattisgarh

Dear Dr. Raman Singh,

There is some disturbing news which has been received that the Chhatisgarh Legislative assembly has revised the fee payable for RTI applications and the fee chargeable for providing information to Citizens. All over the country all Public authorities have kept a fee of `10 as application fee and `2 per page for providing information. It has been reported that the Chhatisgarh Legislature has revised this to`500 for application fee and `15 per page for information to be provided.

This would be very unfortunate since Right to Information is a fundamental right of citizens and Section 7(5) of the Act states that, “Where access to information is to be provided in the printed or in any electronic format, the applicant shall, subject to the Provisions sub-section (6), pay such fee as may be prescribed:

“Provided that the fee prescribed under sub-section (1) of section 6 and sub-section (1) and (5) of section 7 shall be reasonable and no such fee shall charged from the persons who are of below poverty line as may be determined by the appropriate Government.”

It has clearly been mentioned in the law that the application fee as well as the additional fee for providing information would be reasonable. Almost all Public Authorities in the Country have in the right spirit of the Act and recognizing that information should be available to citizens since they are the owners of the information, kept `10/- as application fee and `2/- per page as additional fee for providing the information. In this background the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly’s decision to start charging `500/- as application and `15/- per page as additional fee goes against the spirit and purpose of the RTI Act and would be unwarranted discrimination against citizens who seek information from the Legislative Assembly. This would give rise to suspicion and speculation that the legislative assembly wishes to discourage citizens from exercising their fundamental right. I am sure the Chhattisgarh Assembly will set a good example to promote citizen’s fundamental rights and reduce the application fee and the additional fee to `10/- and `2/- respectively at the earliest.

Best Regards,

Your’s Truly

(Shailesh Gandhi)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Shri Ravindra Choubey,

Leader of Opposition

Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha,

Baluda Bazar Road,

Raipur- Chhattisgarh

Dear Shri Ravindra Choubey,

There is some disturbing news which has been received that the Chhatisgarh Legislative assembly has revised the fee payable for RTI applications and the fee chargeable for providing information to Citizens. All over the country all Public authorities have kept a fee of `10 as application fee and `2 per page for providing information. It has been reported that the Chhatisgarh Legislature has revised this to`500 for application fee and `15 per page for information to be provided.

This would be very unfortunate since Right to Information is a fundamental right of citizens and Section 7(5) of the Act states that, “Where access to information is to be provided in the printed or in any electronic format, the applicant shall, subject to the Provisions sub-section (6), pay such fee as may be prescribed:

“Provided that the fee prescribed under sub-section (1) of section 6 and sub-section (1) and (5) of section 7 shall be reasonable and no such fee shall charged from the persons who are of below poverty line as may be determined by the appropriate Government.”

It has clearly been mentioned in the law that the application fee as well as the additional fee for providing information would be reasonable. Almost all Public Authorities in the Country have in the right spirit of the Act and recognizing that information should be available to citizens since they are the owners of the information, kept `10/- as application fee and `2/- per page as additional fee for providing the information. In this background the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly’s decision to start charging `500/- as application and `15/- per page as additional fee goes against the spirit and purpose of the RTI Act and would be unwarranted discrimination against citizens who seek information from the Legislative Assembly. This would give rise to suspicion and speculation that the legislative assembly wishes to discourage citizens from exercising their fundamental right. I am sure the Chhattisgarh Assembly will set a good example to promote citizen’s fundamental rights and reduce the application fee and the additional fee to `10/- and `2/- respectively at the earliest.

Best Regards,

Your’s Truly

(Shailesh Gandhi)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Shri Dharamlal Kaushik

Speaker

Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha,

Baluda Bazar Road,

Raipur- Chhattisgarh

Dear Shri Dharamlal Kaushik,

There is some disturbing news which has been received that the Chhatisgarh Legislative assembly has revised the fee payable for RTI applications and the fee chargeable for providing information to Citizens. All over the country all Public authorities have kept a fee of `10 as application fee and `2 per page for providing information. It has been reported that the Chhatisgarh Legislature has revised this to`500 for application fee and `15 per page for information to be provided.

This would be very unfortunate since Right to Information is a fundamental right of citizens and Section 7(5) of the Act states that, “Where access to information is to be provided in the printed or in any electronic format, the applicant shall, subject to the Provisions sub-section (6), pay such fee as may be prescribed:

“Provided that the fee prescribed under sub-section (1) of section 6 and sub-section (1) and (5) of section 7 shall be reasonable and no such fee shall charged from the persons who are of below poverty line as may be determined by the appropriate Government.”

It has clearly been mentioned in the law that the application fee as well as the additional fee for providing information would be reasonable. Almost all Public Authorities in the Country have in the right spirit of the Act and recognizing that information should be available to citizens since they are the owners of the information, kept `10/- as application fee and `2/- per page as additional fee for providing the information. In this background the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly’s decision to start charging `500/- as application and `15/- per page as additional fee goes against the spirit and purpose of the RTI Act and would be unwarranted discrimination against citizens who seek information from the Legislative Assembly. This would give rise to suspicion and speculation that the legislative assembly wishes to discourage citizens from exercising their fundamental right. I am sure the Chhattisgarh Assembly will set a good example to promote citizen’s fundamental rights and reduce the application fee and the additional fee to `10/- and `2/- respectively at the earliest.

Best Regards,

Your’s Truly

(Shailesh Gandhi)

Jamia Millia Jamia sends Rs.50 lakh defamation notice to RTI activist

Association for Protection of Civil Rights has flayed Jamia Millia Islamia for sending defamation notice of Rs.50 lakh to RTI activist Afroz Alam Sahil – who was instrumental in bringing into the public domain the post-mortem report of Batla House encounter – and termed the move as an attempt to harass him. Jamia authorities were peeved at Afroz Alam Sahil constantly questioning the administration through RTI. Rights group alleged that it is an open attempt to suppress the voice of dissen

t as well as freedom of speech. Mr. Sahil has also been campaigning for restoration of democratic rights for students of Jamia where election for Students Union have not been held since 2006. Mr. Sahil is also credited for bringing into public domain post-mortem report into the Batla House encounter through his RTI application apart from raising issues pertaining to corruption, fellowships, hostel allotment, health services and security for women.

Several organizations have demanded that Jamia administration withdraw its legal notice with immediate effect to ensure freedom of speech and to encourage its own outstanding student.

Scan of the legal notice of defamation is attached.

RTI: 20 Lakh embezzled in Aligarh Station of All India Radio

Information provided under RTI to Mr Bimal Khemani of TRAP Group of Aligarh has revelaed that Aligarh based station of All India Radio entered into an agreement with a private security agency. The Director General (Additional-Security) objected to the said agreement with private security agency, and even the Audit Section pointed out that there has been flagrant violation of rules, the concerned officials of AIR Aligarh station did not pay heed to them. Later it was revealed under RTI that about Rs 20 lakh of public money has been embezzled, it is alleged, with the connivance of certain officials of AIR. Mr Bimal Khemani has filed a complaint with the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) in the matter.