Misinterpretation of amended RTI rules of Maharashtra
7 Sep, 2012An application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act was filed with the Gardens department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to seek the information about the procedure to cut trees in the city, details of security deposit for it and the claimed and unclaimed amount of security deposit by citizens.
Though all the information sought under the RTI were concerned with only one subject, the Public Information Officer (PIO) provided the details related only to the procedures to cut trees. Misinterpreting the different sections in the query as different subjects, the PIO cited Section 3(C) of the Maharashtra RTI (Amendment) Rules, 2012 for not providing the other information. However, when the matter was brought to the notice of deputy commissioner Suhas Karvande, he accepted that there was a misinterpretation and said that the complete information will be provided as early as possible.
Fears have been expressed by RTI activists in the past regarding the possible misinterpretation of the recent amendments by the Maharashtra government to the Right to Information (RTI) rules.