If Activists Are Attacked, Info Sought By Them To Be Posted Online
Anahita Mukherji TNN
Mumbai: Central Information Commission (CIC) has come out with a landmark resolution to combat unending assaults on right to information (RTI) activists.
According to the resolution, if the commission receives a complaint regarding an assault on or murder of an information-seeker, it will examine pending RTI applications of the victim and order the departments to publish the requested information suo motu on their websites.
The resolution was mooted by information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi at a meeting of the CIC in the middle of September and its minutes were made public on Tuesday.
“It can be an effective deterrent against attacks on RTI activists. If the resolution is used 10 to 15 times, it can protect RTI activists. Nobody will want to attack an activist,’’ said Gandhi.
The CIC meeting addressed the need for governments to take responsibility for the lives of informationseekers and protect them from assaults. “The commission also resolves that it will take proactive steps in ascertaining the status of investigations/prosecutions of cases involving information-seekers and endeavors to have these processes expedited,’’ the minutes said.
Source: Times of India
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