Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SM)

Mangalore, Oct 22: One day seminar on ‘Right to Information Act’ was held at SDM Law College here recently.

Speaking on the occasion, D K Ravindra, principal of the College said that there is urgency in defining the term ‘public interest’ in Section A of the Right to Information (RTI) Act as the officials might misuse the term to deny information sought under RTI Act.

He further said that the term ‘public interest’ has not been defined clearly in Section A of the Act. It should either be clearly defined and altered or amended so that there would be no confusions in the term, added Ravindra.

The RTI Act is the most strong and effective Act when it comes to punitive and penalty provisions it contains against the defaulters, said Ravindra.

He further said that many cases have been reported in the country wherein the officials had to pay the fine for denying the information sought under the Act. One official in the civil supplies department had to pay Rs 25,000 as a fine for not providing information on the reasons for denying ration card to an applicant, he added.