Woman's RTI appeal rejected: Can't spy on husband's personal life, says commission

Lucknow (The Uttam Hindu): The State Information Commission has issued an important ruling regarding the scope of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. A bench headed by State Information Commissioner Mohammad Nadeem clarified that the RTI cannot be used to investigate or spy on someone's private marital affairs. The Commission made this observation while dismissing an appeal filed by a woman from Sant Kabir Nagar. The Commission stated that requiring the government machinery or village councils to maintain records of people's private lives is against the spirit of the law.

She had asked the village head for information about her husband's second marriage

The case is from Sant Kabir Nagar, where a woman is separated from her husband. The woman filed an RTI application and asked the village head a strange question. She wanted to know whether she still lived with her husband as his legal wife. If not, what information did the village head have about this? Furthermore, she asked whether her husband had taken another woman as his wife without divorcing her, and if so, what were the names and ages of the children born to her? The Public Information Officer replied that such personal information is not recorded in the village panchayat records. Dissatisfied with this answer, the woman filed an appeal with the Commission.

'RTI is a tool for transparency, not a social register'

The State Information Commissioner, while hearing the appeal, said that the purpose of the RTI Act is to bring transparency in government work, and not to be a 'social register' of personal relationships between men and women. The bench, in its order, made a scathing remark, saying that while citizens' growing trust in the RTI is a good thing, this trust should not be so great that they demand information from the department that does not exist. The Gram Panchayat does not keep details of citizens' family disputes or personal relationships. The Commission, considering the information provided by the Public Information Officer sufficient, disposed of the case.