NEW DELHI: Some of the Delhi government departments have been flouting the RTI rules by disclosing the details of RTI applicants on their official website.
Law student and RTI activist Aniket Gaurav found out that the Right to Information column of web portals of Tihar Jail and Delhi Jal Board have uploaded the replies of applicants which also discloses personal details including name, designation, address, e-mail id and mobile number of the applicants.
As per the RTI rules, all public authorities are to disclose RTI applications and appeals received and their responses, on the websites maintained by them with search facility based on key words.
However, the RTI applications and appeals received and their responses relating to the personal information of an individual may not be disclosed, as they do not serve any public interest. Also, personal details of RTI applicants should not be disclosed to anyone.
Gaurav had written to the Delhi government asking the authorities to correct the error to which the CM’s Office replied that the matter was being looked upon.
“There are instances in the past where RTI Users have been attacked. We have a Calcutta High court order (2013) and DoPT office memorandum (2016) which specifically state that personal information of an applicant should not be put on websites,” said Gaurav, who uses a Twitter handle named ‘Legal Squad’ to raise awareness on the matter.
“Apart from tweeting about it, I have sent emails to CM Delhi and Dy CM at their official email address, for bringing this into their immediate notice. Within a few hours, the email was forwarded to concerned officials for ‘necessary action’ but it has been more than 24 hours and there hasn’t been any concrete steps taken till now to remove the details from the website,” he added.