Babus’ assets come under RTI
Give Public Access To Info, Says CIC
Viju B | TNN
Mumbai: After politicians and Supreme Court judges, now the assets of babus
have been prised open to public scrutiny. In a landmark order, the Central
Information Commission has said disclosure of information such as assets of a
public servant, routinely collected by the public authority, should be made
available to the public under the Right to Information Act.
Passing the order in a case of an officer with the Municipal Corporation of
Delhi, information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi noted that such disclosure
could not be construed as an invasion on the privacy of an individual and
therefore, it should be made public under the Act.
With the ruling that disclosure of assets by a babu is no longer a matter
between just him and his superiors, officers have been put on par with
politicians and SC judges who recently, bowing to pressure, agreed to open up
their assets to public scrutiny.
The case came up for hearing with CIC after an RTI applicant’s query asking
for details of assets and liabilities of the deputy health officer of MCD was
rejected by both the PIO and the appellate authority.
Out In The Open
CIC says such info not ‘‘personal’’. Details of assets are collected routinely
by public authorities
So far, disclosure of assets by babus an internal affair, between the official
and his superior
CIC cites SC order that netas, who seek to be public servants by getting
elected, declare property details
Activists welcome CIC order on assets
Mumbai: UP resident Rajbir Singh had asked for details of immovable property
declared by one Ashok Rawat, deputy health officer with MCD. He had also asked
for details of assets which the officer had purchased for more than Rs 10,000
during his service with date of disclosure made to the department.
But both the PIO and first appellate authority rejected the query under
Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act. Information can be exempted under this section
if it relates to personal information and the disclosure of which has no
relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause
unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual.
When the case came up for hearing, the CIC said that to qualify for this
exemption, the information must be of a personal nature.
City-based RTI activists welcomed the order. “This will usher in greater
transparency and we hope citizens will use this as an opportunity to expose
corruption in the system,” said Bhaskar Prabhu, convener of Mahiti Adhikar
Manch. Sources said the order was prompted by the recognition that declarations
of assets by officers was not serving much purpose.
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