Case against railways for denying info

Indian People’s Right for Information & Democracy (Indian Pride), a group of RTI activists based in West Bengal, last week complained to the office of the chief information commissioner (CIC) accusing the railways of refusing to divulge crucial information about alleged financial irregularities in the department.

According to its secretary Dipti Patra, the group had sought the audit report of south eastern railways (SER) in July 2010. “In August, we were asked to pay a fee of Rs6,724 under a particular head of the Union government, which does not exist,” Patra said.

Patra pointed out that the office denied having any soft copy of the audit report, which was unbelievable. Pride then made a second application in the name of a below poverty line (BPL) member, but still did not get the information on time.

“They must give information within a month. The deadline was October 15, but there is still no answer. So we decided to take the legal course by filing a complaint to the office of CIC,” Patra added.