Amid the reports that chief ministers of Andhra and Telangana are spending crores of rupees on the renovation or construction of offices and camp offices in Hyderabad and Vijayawada,the Central Information Commission (CIC) has issued an order which is of much interest to the people these states.
The CIC has directed Petroleum Ministry to disclose expenses incurred on renovation of offices and residence of Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and if so, any limit on expenses was breached.
Chief minister of Andhra Pradesh Chandrababu Naidu and his Telangana counterpart K Chandrasekhar Rao have been spending money on the camp offices ever since they assumed office on June 2, 2014.
Activist Subhash Agrawal approached the Ministry seeking to know complete information on type of government accommodation provided to the minister Pradhan, expenses made on renovation and equipment provided at his residence and offices. He also sought file notings to know whether any public sector undertaking was roped in to fund the renovation activities at his office and residence.
The CPIO of the ministry responded on August 27, 2015 to the application stating that the information sought was not available in the Ministry and its compilation from various files would disproportionately divert the resources of the public authority under Section 7(9) of the RTI Act, 2005.
The CIC did not agree with the Ministry official that the collection of information would disproportionately divert their resources. Stating that the maintenance of accounts was computerised, the CIC maintained that such replies obstruct furnishing of information under the RTI Act, thereby causing harassment to the citizen.
“We have considered the records and the submissions of both the parties and note that Section 7 (9) does not provide for denial of information. This provision states: ‘An information shall ordinarily be provided in the form in which it is sought unless it would disproportionately divert the resources of the public authority or would be detrimental to the safety or preservation of the record in question.’ However, the CPIO cited this provision to deny the information and his decision was upheld by the FAA,” Cenral Information Commissioner Sabharwal said.
Directing the Ministry to disclose the information and records sought by the applicant, the Central Information Commissioner said such replies would obstruct the furnishing of information sought under RTI Act, thereby causing harassment to the citizens seeking information.
Now activists and people in Telugu states can also seek information from Andhra and Telangana governments on the money spent on the renovation or building of offices and camp offices along with other expenditure in the name of security for the buildings in their capitals.
