Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Information Commission came down heavily on a petitioner who sent a series of petitions seeking information for his own benefit under the Right to Information Act, 2005.
Imposing a penalty of ₹10,000 on S. Krishna Ramanujam, the petitioner, for abusing the provisions of the Act, and also stalling the work of the Public Information Officer by bombarding him with queries, State Information Commissioner R. Priyakumar directed the Revenue Department officials to collect the fine amount under the Revenue Recovery Act if he failed to pay.
The petitioner had sent several letters to the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Theni, seeking a variety of information from the court. While replies to 33 petitions were sent, Mr. Krishnaramanujam had filed 781 RTI petitions before the Principal District Judge, Theni.
Mr. Priyakumar said if the replies were not in his favour, the petitioner used provisions under the Act to intimidate the public authorities and prevent them from discharging their lawful duties, which resulted in the waste of court time and functions.
The Commission referred to an order of the Supreme Court which said that the Act should not be allowed to be misused or abused, to become a tool to obstruct national development and integration, or to destroy the peace, tranquility and harmony among citizens.
The apex court had further said that the Act should not be converted into a tool of oppression or intimidation of honest officials striving to do their duty. “The nation does not want a scenario where 75% of the staff of public authorities spend 75% of their time in collecting and furnishing information to applicants instead of discharging their regular duties,” the order said.
Mr. Priyakumar said the order was relevant to the case and hence the penalty. The threat of penalties under the RTI Act and the pressure of the authorities under the same should not lead to employees of public offices prioritising ‘information furnishing’, at the cost of their normal and regular duties.
