RTI activist SC Agrawal approaches CIC after becoming target of fake applicants

Of late, there has been an unusual amount of postage being sent to noted Right to Information activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal’s residence in Delhi, even by his own standards..Agrawal claims that scores of fake RTI applicants are using his name and address seeking information regarding people from Rajasthan working in hospitals in Delhi. He has also noted that even though the RTI requests bear no signatures, they have been passed on to PIOs in the hospitals..In a representation made to the Central Information Commissioner, Agrawal states,.“Same fake petitioner has also sent unsigned representation to office of Hon’ble Chief Minister of Rajasthan alleging 100-percent fake certificates/degrees from nursing-staff from Rajasthan…Likewise unsigned representation addressed to office of Hon’ble Chief Minister of Rajasthan was transferred to various hospitals of Delhi.”.Agrawal also claims that the hospital staffers are threatening to sue him for “millions of rupees” for “loss of reputation”..Speaking to Bar & Bench, he said,.“I am the victim here. Someone is threatening to file a defamation suit for 50 lakhs. Till two years ago, I was the most prolific RTI activist in the country. Everybody thinks that by using my name, there will be a fear psychology for the public authority.”.He has made a number of suggestions to curb the menace of frivolous RTI filings, the most significant of which is that every RTI application seeking to make a complaint against a government employee should be accompanied by the applicant’s ID proof and signature..Having being similarly targeted in the past, Agrawal had approached the Department of Training and Personnel (DoPT) with these suggestions. However, the DoPT officials have stated that this particular suggestion cannot be implemented, as the RTI Act and Rules do not specifically for furnishing photo ID along with appeals and complaints. In fact, Section 6(2) of the Act states,.“An applicant making request for information shall not be required to give any reason for requesting the information or any other personal details except those that may be necessary for contacting him.”.This provision was ostensibly put in place to ensure anonymity of the applicant, and if Agrawal’s suggestions are to be considered, it could deter applicants from filing complaints..However, Agrawal disagrees. He says,.“Even now, the applicant has to give his name and address, so what is the change? For those who do not want to disclose their identity, there is a Calcutta High Court order which says you can give a post box number and apply through that.”.He has also suggested that the fees for filing an RTI be increased from the present Rs. 10 to Rs. 50, in order to prevent misuse..“It is a common knowledge that those misusing RTI petitions, do so because of very low RTI fees of just rupees ten…People below poverty line (BPL) are already exempted from RTI fees and copying charges…Basic RTI fees should therefore be raised to rupees fifty but inclusive of copying charges of first twenty pages…”.He has also suggested that the Department of Posts immediately issue RTI stamps in denominations of Rupees 2, 10 and 50..In response to these suggestions, Central Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu has directed the DoPT to look into the matter and take steps to deal with the growing problem of fake applications..In an order dated November 10, he held,.“There should be a focussed effort in tackling the fake applications which harass both the genuine applicants and public authorities. Hence, the Commission recommends, in the interest of promoting genuine usage of RTI and preventing fake applicants, the Secretary, DoPT, to address the serious issue of fake complaints like in this case, consider the suggestion of appellant/complainant to prepare an Office Memorandum with specific guidelines for the PIOs to deal with the such fake RTI applications, as soon as possible.”.Agrawal concludes by saying,.“It is my submission that the RTI Rules should be amended. If I insist on amending the RTI Act, the government will get an opportunity to dilute it.”.Read the CIC order dated November 10: