The Brave Pedestrian

Quite often, people feel guilty and try to explain why they want a particular piece of information. Some people write a covering letter for their RTI application explaining their grievances and how getting the information will help them. Others explain that they are collecting information for their doctoral thesis or newspaper article. Still others try to impress the PIO by writing that they are relatives of a Member of Parliament, or the president of some association or trade union. All that is unnecessary. Section 6(2) clearly says: An applicant making request for information shall not be required to give any reason or any other personal details except those that necessary for contacting him. So, whether you are drafting your RTI application, speaking to a PIO or any Appellate Authority, remember: you need not disclose the purpose for which you want the information, or any additional details about yourself. Your name and contract details is all that anybod...

In case the requested documents are denied to you under sections 8, 9 or 11, and the PIO and appellate authorities refuse to budge, what to do? The answer is: Take whatever documents you can get, after severing off the documents (or parts thereof) to which the above-mentioned sections apply. Section 10: (1) Where a request for access to information is rejected on the ground that it is exempt from disclosure, access may be provided to that part of the record which does not contain any information which is exempt from disclosure and which can reasonably be severed from any part that contains exempt information . (2) Where access is granted to a part of the record under sub-section (1) the PIO shall give a notice to the applicant, informing — that only part of the record requested, after severance of the record containing information which is exempt from disclosure, is being provided; the reasons for the decision, including any findings on any material question ...