Increasing Misuse Of RTI Act Will Dilute Its Importance & Make Government Servants Dither From Carrying Out Their Activities: Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court recently observed that there has been a growing trend of abuse and misuse of the Right to Information Act and expressed concern that such misuse could potentially undermine the significance of the Act and create hesitation among government servants in performing their duties. 

The Single Judge Bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad was dealing with a Writ Petition challenging an order passed by the Central Information Commission rejecting the appeal filed by the Petitioner and further directing the Registry of the Commission not to entertain any further cases from the Petitioner herein on the same subject matter on the ground that the Petitioner has abused the process of the Right to Information.

The Petitioner had submitted a total of 15 Right to Information (RTI) applications, seeking information related to the doctor involved and other pertinent details regarding the unfortunate death of his younger brother attributing the demise to alleged medical negligence.

Observing this, the Delhi High Court stated, "Right to Information Act, 2005 was brought out with a laudable objective of bringing about transparency in the functioning of the Government. The Act was brought into to provide for secure access to information to every citizen, and to prevent corruption and to hold Governments and their instrumentalities accountable. However, this Court is now seeing increasing abuse/misuse of the RTI Act and this case is a classic case of abuse of the Right to Information.

The High Court also observed that "The purpose of the RTI Act is meant to further good governance, and unfortunate misuse of the same will only dilute its importance as well as make government servants dither from carrying out their activities. It will also prevent doctors from taking steps in emergent situations fearing the consequences of the same. This Court has unfortunately been coming across various cases where abuse of RTI has led to paralysis and fear among Government officials."

The Court further stated that the Petitioner abused the Right to Information Act by repeatedly filing applications by either trying to ascertain the degree of the Doctor, the issue which has already attained finality by the Orders of this Court as well as the Apex Court, or by trying to question the decision-making process adopted by the Ethics Committee.

Additionally, the High Court deliberated on the issue of whether the CIC had the authority to prohibit the Petitioner from making additional inquiries under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The Court stated that the Right to Information Act, 2005 has been brought to provide greater and more effective access to information to the citizens and the authorities must provide information. 

Clarifying, the Court stated, that if further information is sought, then the right of the person cannot be extinguished. The Court held, "However, a citizen's right to claim information under RTI Act cannot be doused if further or fresh information is sought. The RTI Act provides for payment of costs by public authority if any loss is caused or any other detriment is suffered by the complainant or if the Central Information Commission or the State Information Commission, without any reasonable cause, fails to receive an application for information or has not furnished information within the time specified or has given incorrect, incomplete or misleading information or destroyed information which was the subject of the request or obstructed in any manner in furnishing the information. There is no provision for imposing costs if information is sought repeatedly."

The High Court accordingly set aside the relevant portion of the Order of the CIC by which the Central Registry of the Commission was directed to not entertain any further cases from the Petitioner herein on the same subject matter. The Court further being sympathetic to the pain of the Petitioner, advised him not to abuse the process of law by trying to seek the same information over and over again, thereby diluting the very objective of the Act. 

Cause Title: Shishir Chand V. The Central Information Commission & Anr [W.P.(C) 11820/2021]

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