Increasing abuse, misuse of RTI Act leading to paralysis, fear among govt officials: Delhi HC
New Delhi, Dec 20: The Delhi High Court has expressed concern over increasing "abuse" and "misuse" of the Right to Information (RTI) Act and said it has led to "paralysis and fear" among government officials.
The high court said the RTI law was enacted with laudable objectives of bringing about transparency in the functioning of the government, to facilitate access to information to every citizen, 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 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," Justice Subramonium Prasad said.
The high court made the observations while dealing with a plea by Shishir Chand challenging an order passed by the Central Information Commission (CIC) directing its registry to not entertain any further cases from him concerning the untimely demise of his younger brother on account of alleged medical negligence by Dr Atul Chhabra of Jamshedpur's Tata Memorial Hospital.
The CIC cited the list of RTI applications filed by the petitioner and the repeated attempts made by him to reopen the same issue again and again. It said the issues have already been considered from all aspects and substantial amount of information has been made available to him.
The CIC had held since the ambit of the RTI Act is restricted to ensuring access to information from existing public records, it found that enough relief under the RTI Act has already been explored.
It was of the opinion that a trial of medical negligence cannot be held through the process of RTI.
In its order, the high court said undoubtedly, the petitioner was abusing the RTI Act by repeatedly filing applications either 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.
The high court said the petitioner has not sought the same information but further information, and therefore, the CIC ought not to have passed the direction to the central registry of the commission to not entertain any further applications from the petitioner on the same subject matter. The court set aside the relevant portion of the CIC's order directing the registry to not entertain further applications from the petitioner on the same subject.
"The court is sympathetic to the pain of the petitioner, however, he is advised 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. The writ petition is allowed in part," the high court said.
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Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
