Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat
Recently the State Chief Information Commissioner (SCIC) G R Sufi issued penalty show-cause notice to the Public Information Officer (PIO) of Jammu & Kashmir Public Service Commission (PSC) as the officer denied to share photocopies of answer papers to an KAS aspirant. The Information Commission further directed PSC authorities to provide photocopies of answer papers to the information seeker. PSC had earlier denied to provide this information saying its rules don’t allow to provide copies of answer papers to information seekers.
RTI has an overriding effect :
Under Section 19 J&K Right to Information Act 2009 (RTI) has an overriding effect on all the laws which prohibit a public authority to share information in shape of certified copies , documents etc with public. This provision is very much present in Central RTI Act 2005 as well. Section 19 of J&K RTI Act 2009 reads as : “The provisions of J&K RTI Act 2009 shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in the Official Secrets Act , Samvat 1977 and any other law for the time being in force or in any instrument having effect by virtue of any law other than the RTI Act” We must all know that J&K Official Secrets Act and Central Official Secrets Act of 1923 are still applicable and inspite of the enactment of RTI Act , the official secrets Act is yet to be repealed. Under the provisions of Official Secrets Act no official document or record can be shared with public , but the RTI Act says public can have access to information of Govt records / files etc. The provision of Overriding Effect of RTI Act is basically kept to address these kinds of legal issues. RTI Act makes it clear that this law will override all the legislations that includes Official Secrets Act.
If RTI has an overriding effect on different laws which encounter it , I fail to understand why J&K Public Service Commission (PSC) denies to provide certified copies of answer scripts to the aggrieved persons who seek the same under the provisions of J&K RTI Act 2009. In-spite of several judgments passed by Central Information Commission (CIC) and State Information Commission (SIC), the J&K Public Service Commission (PSC) continues to violate the RTI Act by denying photocopies of answer books to information seekers / aggrieved persons. The PSC raises a point that its official rules disallow of providing Xerox copies of answer papers. It seems PSC authorities are not well versed with State RTI Act. It is worthwhile to mention that Supreme Court has also given a historical direction in this regard few years back in the case of CBSE v/s Bandopdhya wherein it has observed that providing information under the RTI Act is a general rule and denying the information on account of exemption or as provided under section 8 is an exception.
Information Sought :
Information seeker Narinder Singh a resident Chennani had filed an application under J&K RTI Act before J&K Public Service Commission last year in August seeking copies of english answer papers of Combined Competitive Mains Examination 2013. As the RTI applicant did not receive any response from the PIO (Deputy Secretary) of PSC and its Secretary who is the First Appellate Authority (FAA), the information seeker filed second appeal in the State Information Commission (SIC). The Information Commission finally decided the case few weeks back wherein PSC was directed to provide certified copies of answer papers and the PIO was served with penalty show cause notice as well.
Conclusion :
If the constitutional and autonomous institution like Public Service Commission (PSC) is violating State RTI Act and orders of Supreme Court of India , what can we expect from other Government departments ? The State Chief Information Commissioner (SCIC) is also aghast against PSC’s denial of information. I hope Governor N N Vohra will take this issue seriously and seek an explanation from the PSC authorities. If we want to ensure accountability and transparency within PSC , then this institution must adhere to the provisions of RTI Act. PSC cannot claim of being exempted from sharing information as RTI overrules all the laws , circulars , orders , rules etc which includes the internal rules / regulation of J&K Public Service Commission (PSC).
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