Right to information is being transformed into right to deny information before our very eyes https://theleaflet.in/information-and-transparency/right-to-information-is-being-transformed-into-right-to-deny-information-before-our-very-eyes The Girish Ramchandra judgment < https://indiankanoon.org/doc/160205361/ > gives a licence to refuse most information at will to public information officers, first appellate authorities, information commissioners and courts. Realising that it may be difficult for public information officers and other appellate authorities to decide on what constitutes privacy, the Parliament gave a simple test in the proviso that information that would not be denied to the Parliament or legislature would not be denied to any person.
It did not conclude whether the information was with respect to public activity, or whether it was an invasion of privacy. Further, it did not even quote the all-important proviso about denying the information to the Parliament. It was as if the court did not read the complete provision!
It can even be used to deny information for which the RTI Act mandates suo moto disclosure under Section 4.
The nation must realise that the curbs on freedom of speech, the right to publish and the right to information are interlinked and must be treated with equal importance, writes Shailesh Gandhi.
in the ADR PUCL judgment, the Supreme Court had ordered that citizens have a right to know about the assets of those who want to become public servants (stand for elections) the Girish Deshpande judgment ruled that citizens had no right to know about the assets of a public servant!