*
Also, every public authority is duty bound to proactively disclose the information provided under the heads mentioned under Section 4 (1)(b). This had to be published within 120 days of the date of enactment of this Act.
Some of the heads under section 4(1)(b) include:
the procedure followed in the decision making process, including channels of supervision and accountability; 4(1)(b)(iii)
the monthly remuneration received by each of its officers and employee, including the system of compensation as provided in its regulations; 4(1)(b)(xi)
the names, designations and other particulars of the Public Information Officers etc; 4(1)(b)(xvi)
Needless to say adherence to Section 4 is the first and foremost step towards ensuring transparency and accountability in the functioning of any public authority. However, a country-wide dismal record on this front has goaded the government to constitute a special task force to ensure effective implementation of this Section, as reported by the PTI.
Even our best law universities have a poor record on this. Section 4 came into force on 15 June 2005 and the information should have been disclosed within 120 days by October 2005. It seems that we are six years late.
Here is the track record of our top National Law Universities, ILS Pune and GLC Mumbai.
NLSIU Bangalore, Nalsar Hyderabad, GNLU Gandhinagar and NLU Delhi have provided comprehensive Section 4 information on their respective websites (see table).
NUJS Kolkata, NLU Jodhpur and RMLNLU Lucknow provide only the details of the Public Information Officer (PIO) and the Appellate Authority (AA). All other information mandated by section 4(1)(b) of the Act (usually in the form of a 50-100 page document) has not been published on the websites of these colleges.
NLIU Bhopal, ILS Pune, HNLU Raipur and GLC Mumbai are the biggest truants and have not even published details of the PIO and the AA. Any prospective information seeker wishing to assert her Right to Information in any of these universities won’t even know where to send her application to.
| **Law College | Details of the PIO and AA | Section 4 compliance |
|---|---|---|
| Transparent | ||
| NLSIU Bangalore | Yes | Yes |
| GNLU Gandhingar | Yes | Yes |
| NLU Delhi | Yes | Yes |
| NALSAR Hyderabad | Yes | Yes |
| Cloudy | ||
| NUJS Kolkata | Yes | No |
| NLU Jodhpur | Yes | No |
| RMLNLU Lucknow | Yes | No |
| Opaque | ||
| ILS Pune | No | No |
| GLC Mumbai | No | No |
| HNLU Raipur | No | No |
| NLIU Bhopal | No | No |
The Transparent Colleges
The “Transparent Colleges” not only provide the requisite information but also facilitate easy access to it. Nalsar’s website has a link to Right to Information on the bottom left of its home page while NLS has this information as a drop down menu on the “About” tab.
NLU Delhi’s website has probably the best compiled Section 4 information and also provided for simple access. A colour-flashing tab which says “RTI Act” can be found on its home page.
However, GNLU’s website with the tab name “Information Compendium” on its home page could do well by changing the description to “RTI Act” or something to that effect.
The Cloudy Colleges
Things get difficult with the “Cloudy” law colleges. See the steps involved to land on NLU Jodhpur’s information on its PIO and AA (via the “Profile” tab, click to the “Administration” page, then click on “Public Information Officer”).
The heads are vague, the steps too many and it is questionable whether a reasonable man will construe this as “access” to information.
NLU Jodhpur does also not provide access to other information mandated by Section 4. NUJS Kolkata and RMLNLU Lucknow too seem satisfied with only providing the details of the PIO and the AA.
The opaque colleges
ILS Pune and GLC Mumbai are the biggest culprits. Right to Information seems to have skipped the attention of 2000 plus law students and teachers.
NLIU Bhopal and HNLU Raipur present interesting cases.
NLIU Bhopal: a visible head on the navigation bar of its website provides for “RTI” but a page with information is not actually accessible and does not seem to have been created.
HNLU Raipur: Clicking on the “Misc” tab will lead you to a drop down tab called “Downloads”. One of the downloadable documents is the “Public Information Officer Order”, dated April 1 2009 which speaks about the appointment of a PIO!
Conclusion
This little piece of research establishes what we provokingly blogged on March 13, 2011: Law universities have been at the forefront of the ‘institutional hypocrisy’, leaders of not practicing what they preach.
While legal aid camps are held with gusto, teaching the unaware and the uneducated about their rights; maybe it’s time to also see, how unaware, uneducated and unconcerned we are about ours.
Infocracy India (www.infocracyindia.org)* is an initiative to increase* RTI activism among law students in India. Infocracy founder Tanuj Kalia and Infocracy student researcher Akshay Sharma are both NUJS students.
Comments
Its not the case of any particular college i think it happens everywhere..
1. Be polite, open and understanding. Target issues and not individuals.
2. Get some neutral party to file the RTI. It could be a friend from some other college etc.
3. File the RTI application as a 'group'. You can easily mention in the last para of the RTI application that "A, B, C...Z are the students who want this information...".
It will prevent the administration from acting against any individual.
4. You can also file the RTI application on the letterhead of your own organisation; you can call it anything you like.
[quote name="Mohit Singh"]The above mentioned RTI compliance applies to every "Public Authority". Symbiosis University does not fall under the definition of "public authority" as defined under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act.[/quote]
Correct me if I am wrong, but I do not think that either it has been established/notified by any statute/Govt. order or is substantially funded by the Government as is required under the definition of public authority.
"HNLU Raipur: Clicking on the “Misc” tab will lead you to a drop down tab called “Downloads”. One of the downloadable documents is the “Public Information Officer Order”, dated April 1 2009 which speaks about the appointment of a PIO!"[/i]
The information about PIO of the University is correct and it stands valid even today. Ms. Sanjana Dharmaraj is still the PIO and Shri Anand Pawar is still the AA of the University. I know this to be true as I had myself filed an RTI application on the last working day of the University. I would request to correct the information provided by Infocracy.
The report tells whether the website of an institute as that information or not. HNLU's website does not have this information.
Not having information on the website is a clear indicator that 'access' to the information is not easy, as it should be.
what BIG-PLOT are you talking about?? well i spent my five years there, and i am still in pretty good touch with the administration over there (they are definitely not the most efficient one), but that aside I am really intersted in knowing this big-plot-theory, please enlighten me.
this 'big plot' of land theory seemed to be very much common knowledge in february of 2010 at least (during the moot). note that the quotes indicate emphasis, not sarcasm :)
talk to your juniors; the plot may/not exist, but the theory definitely does. curious where it is located though.
They are clearing the rot not only in NUJS but in other law schools as well. Way to go!
Looks as if the situation has not improved since then !
Please tell us the amount for which you sold your soul to NLU Delhi.
Regards,
A law student
or what nalsar gave in 2010.
Its a pity that we call ourselves a part of a democracy when no one has the audacity to exhibit even a little of the democratic values that is supposedly ingrained in us.
Its a shame to have such a person as the Vice-Chancellor of a reputed law school.