Our appeal to the State Information Commission
Posted in Blog
In June 2009, we made a RTI application to seek justice for our women against whom crimes of rape, theft and loot had been committed.
We specifically requested information on the number of registered cases of rape, theft or loot on women in Gujarat from 1st January to 19th June 2009; the sentences imparted in each of the cases, and the steps undertaken by the state government and the police in preventing the future occurrence of these crimes.
What followed was a cat and mouse chase for four months, with the application being transferred between the State Inspector General’s Office, Appellate Officer and Office of the Home Secretary without the requested information being made available; in spite of RTI application being made to protect for our women and in spite of the cases being recorded in the police’s crime register.
A brief summary of this chase:
- On 26th June 2009, the application was first forwarded to the Additional Inspector General, State Crime Bureau, State CID and Railway Office.
- On 1st July, the Deputy Inspector General, Dr. Mira Ramnivas informed that they were not obliged to provide the requested information, as per the CID Information Act of 2005.
- On 24th July, an appeal was sent to the Home Secretary at New Sachivalaya, which was sent to the State Police IG and Chief Police Officer for investigation, on 7th August.
- On 20th August, the appeal was further transferred to the Appellate Officer, Additional IG, CID Crime and the Gujarat Railway Police Office, Gandhinagar. However, we have still not received any information.
An appeal to the State Information Commissioner would mean that the case will be heard after three years, which seriously undermines the efficacy of the RTI legislation and reduces it to a court affair. It seems that the state government, public information officers and the appeal officers are intent on doing just that instead of genuinely increasing transparency in governance.
We have appealed to the State Information Commissioner stating our above experience and concerns. We have asked that the requested information in the RTI should be made available at the earliest and appropriate action should be taken to penalize officers for delaying RTI requests. It waits to be seen how the state government responds.
