COPYCAT : Convener of RTI Council of Uttar Pradesh copy-paste mails from http://www.rtiindia.org

Dear all , Please see the link below http://www.rtiindia.org/forum/63890-up-minor-reason-rejecting-right-information-query.html the discussion appeared in http://www.rtiindia.org was copied word-to-word by the so called convener of the council Akhilesh Saxena jii. Please see the comments of  dr.s.malhotra ji , Atul Patankar ji at http://www.rtiindia.org and the  mail of Akhilesh saxena as being forwarded . This is against the ethics . So I request the so called convener of rti council of Uttar prdesh , Akhilesh Saxena ji  not to indulge in such unethical acts and have his own views on rti. I admire  dr.s.malhotraji  & Atul Patankar ji for their valuable  comments and views that shall help Aishwarya while filing WRIT in high court. regards urvashi sharma On 12/3/10, Akhilesh Kumar Saxena <akhileshsaxena09@gmail.com> wrote: > Dear Urvashi Ji, > > In my humble opinion , the CIC of UPSIC is right in his decision . It is > accepted that if a particular law is silent on some provision , then such > interpretation can be drawn from other laws prevailing and referring to such > provisions . RTI Act is silent on " minimum age of the applicant " but other > laws are not which require a deponent to be a major above 18 years of age , > of sound mind . > > It has to be kept in mind that Applicant will soon be Appellant and > Complainant which would require him or her to verify the contents of his > pleadings in appeals and complaints . Verification of legal or quasi-legal > documents require knowledge and capacity to take CONSIDERED independent ( > non-tutored) decision - sound mind . A child of tender age can not be > trusted with such decision making . > While the law does give one a right , but at the same time it stipulates one > to use that right judiciously without disrupting the harmony in the system . > Now consider a wrong or frivolous application , Appeal and Complaint by such > child . Issue of information is certainly there , but just imagine the > wastage of time , man-power to the system by some unwise queries . The PIO , > AA , Commission shall all be scratching their heads just to make the kid > understand the wisdom of their decisions ( though most sane people find it > difficult to understand the wisdom of such decisions many times - just a > joke ) . > Just image - kids sending RTI Applications to school asking why mobiles are > banned in exams , why they have to wear dress , why school does not start > after they get up at 11 AM and the like ...the list can be mind-boggling . > But at the same time, I do not underestimate the significance of queries > raised by some kids . They are capable of raising such issues which can > shake you no ends because these come from unadulterated minds . In such > cases some mechanism should be evolved that the issues of kids can be taken > up suo moto at some level like the Hon'ble High Courts are doing for the > cause of social justice or the Applications to be entertained through an > appointed master in the school or the like . How it will work can be debated > and a mechanism evolved . RTIAct and very basic provisions of IPC , should > be included in syllabus at 8th class level so that they can start filling > RTI Apps when they are 14-15 years , DoPT may certify such RTI KIds after > training them for 2-3 months . > In nutshell , I would be happiest person if kids just know what is > corruption and how it is eating into the national resources . They should be > able to ask - "dad ! how did you purchase the Audi ?" > Purpose of RTI Act would be full-filled .. > > I think we need to separate 2 issue - whether a minor CAN make an > application under the RTI Act, and whether a KID should be so allowed. > > As far as the validity under present law is concerned, I think the law is > clear enough - section 3 proclaims that All citizens have right to > Information. As RTI Act does not define 'citizen', we can safely infer that > it is the citizen as defined under the Citizen Act, 1955. If the legislature > had intended to confer this right on adults only, it could have very well > said so clearly in the law itself. Neither courts nor the ICs have any right > to put words and stipulations into the act where they do not exist. > > On the issue of desirability of kids asking questions under RTI, though I > fully respect your right to hold that view, I disagree with you. About the > objections raised by you, *please note *that anything starting with 'why' is > automatically rejected, without reading any further. And there are > sufficient provisions in the law to protect public authorities to protect > from 'wrong or frivolous' questions, by children as well as adults. > > > Regard's > > Akhilesh Saxena > > Convener-*RTI Council of* *U.P.* >