Exposed: Information panel ‘treatment’ of applicants

CHENNAI: A sting operation by an RTI activist has revealed the ‘treatment’ meted out to applicants by members of the state information commission. A video released by Satta Panchayat Iyakkam, an NGO, on Monday, shows commission member P Thamilselvan abusing an applicant who had gone in for a second appeal after his application was rejected.
He raises his voice, points fingers and berates the applicant throughout the session.Proceedings for second appeal usually last between 15 minutes and two hours. “You can’t sit here during proceedings... You don’t know who I am…You don’t have any right to talk to me,” shouts Thamilselvan in the video footage captured on February 4.
Satta Panchayat Iyakkam president Siva Elango, who shot the footage, said: “The video has exposed how TN commission is disrespecting applicants. The Supreme Court had said petitioners need not be present before the commission. But commissioners in TN insist that petitioners stand throughout the session.”
He alleged that the “TN information commission is killing this transparent act since the appointment of K S Sripathi as state chief information commissioner in 2010 by the DMK government.”
When contacted, Thamilselvan denied the allegations saying he always respected the applicants appearing for the proceedings. “I have never asked any applicant to stand during the session.” On the video that showed him misbehaving with an applicant, he said, “I didn’t watch it but I doubt the authenticity of the visuals.”
Elango said the commission had been rejecting RTI appeals without reason. “This is probably the only state where information commissioners shout at applicants. They don’t want to bring transparency into government functioning. Many applicants are scared to appear before the commission because of the rude behaviour of the commissioners.”
The information commission comprises chief information commissioner K S Sripathi and commissioners Christopher Nelson, P Thamilselvan, B Neelambikai and S F Akbar.
Elango said the commission’s proceedings were rarely made public. “The commission should webcast the proceedings live on its website and allow applicants to record the proceedings. Some commissioners come late and make applicants wait for hours.”
Others too have complained about poor treatment by commission members. T V Govindan, former Stanley Medical College and Hospital chief surgeon, who filed an RTI against the school education department for errors in Class 12 zoology textbook, said: “I approached the information panel after there were no reply from the school education department. But commissioner Christopher Nelson asked me why I was filing RTIs at this age? Is this how a commissioner treats an applicant?”