Dear Shri Sidharth The Right to Information can be exercised by an individual in his capacity as an Indian Citizen, and not collectivelly by a group of persons joining together. Although it is not stated specifically so in the Act in explicitly clear terms, the common understanding is that a group of persons can not join together for filing of an applicatioin for seeking information under RTI. This view point / such understanding of the provision of RTI Act is reflelcted in Section 6 of the Act. As per Sec 6(1) of the Act which describes procedure for seeking information, it states that " A PERSON WHO DESIRES TO OBTAIN INFORMATION UNDER THE ACT, SHALL MAKE A REQUEST IN WRITING OR THROUGH ELECTRONIC MEANS ................." Proceeding further, Sec 6(2) states that "AN APPLICANT MAKING A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ................".. It is noteworthy to observe here that the focus in both the sub-sections is "A PERSON" and "AN APPLICANT", which obviously would appear to convey that the Right to Information can be exercised by an individual as a (Indain) Citizen. There is no known case of a group of persons jooining together in filing of an application under RTI. Theoratically speaking, for the sake of argument only, even if a group of persons join together in filing an application and PIO accepts it, PIO cannot be expected to respond / write back to all persons in the group, and his response for providing information or otherwise would have to be addressed to one person in the group, which in all reasonableness would be the first person named in the group. When all persons forming the group would not be expecting and / or getting the response, where is the utility of filing an application as a group. So RTI application should be filed by an individual. Others in the group who may be interested can file separate applications which all would be responded. I hope, I have made the position clear. In case you need any further clarification and / or you desire to discuss this aspect, you are welcome to contact me S K NANGIA 093222 58038, 022 28677258
--- On Tue, 7/7/09, Sidharth <[email protected]> wrote: From: Sidharth <[email protected]> Subject: [rti_india] Is it OK to apply for information jointly.. To: [email protected] Date: Tuesday, 7 July, 2009, 4:29 PM Dear friend, I am facing a peculiar situation. Someone is asking me to know whether he can apply for information jointly (may be with his wife/Sister) . So Need clarification from this group. Is there any provision to seek information jointly or in groups ? If yes how many persons can join together and seek information in a single application ? Reg and thanks in advance. Sidharth Misra Cuttack, Orissa. See the Web's breaking stories, chosen by people like you. Check out Yahoo! Buzz. http://in.buzz.yahoo.com/ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
