Citing the case of six political parties which did not follow orders of the Commission bringing them under the RTI Act, Sharma was asked whether there are lacunae in the Act which let the erring public authorities go unpunished and more powers could be given to the panel.
A full bench of the Commission of which Sharma was a member had conceded that since the political parties did not appoint an information officer, the panel cannot impose a penalty as such proceedings can only be initiated against a Central Public Information Officer as per law.
“We are here to implement the Act as it is. My experience has been I don’t think so (need for amendment). The act as it is OK. In so far as the objective of the RTI is concerned and the objective of the RTI Act is to ensure easing access to Information, the Act that we have today that is alright and serves its purpose,” he said in an exclusive interview to PTI.
When asked whether the political parties not following orders of CIC may set a wrong precedent as other public authorities may ignore its orders in future, Sharma said several High Courts have termed the Commission as a tribunal where it hears both sides and give its opinion on the basis of what is given in the law.
The Chief said while “precedence” is important the situations can be different in different cases.
PTI