To Sri Jannat Hussain, The Chief Information Commissioner, AP Information Commission, HACA Bhavan, Hyderabad.

Dear Jannat Hussain garu, I write this letter to you with a sense of disbelief and horror at the way one of the Information Commissioners is misleading people and officials on the RTI act and how he is making a mockery of the act. Attached are a couple of news reports about Sri Vijaya Babu's trip to Guntur and his comments on the RTI act. I would like to raise three important issues with regards to his statements. http://www.thehansindia.info/News/Article.asp?category=5&subCategory=3&ContentId=75232 1. Applications without public interest can be rejected : No section of the RTI act 2005 talks of the RTI application and its link to public interest. Public interest comes into picture only in case of Sec 8 exemptions and actually used in case the information is rejected. But public interest cannot be a pretext for rejecting applications. This is a gross misinterpretation of the act and ought not to have come from an Information Commissioner. 2. Misuse of RTI act: Time and again, it has been reiterated that there can be nothing called as misuse. RTI provides only factual information to the citizens and the misuse/blackmail comes into picture only when there is a wrongdoing on the part of the official. Like one of our activists said, "Gandhi cannot be blackmailed, but Dawood ibrahim can be". By raising this bogey of misuse, the Information Commissioner has done a great disservice to the spirit of the act. There are enough provisions in the RTI act to safeguard the officials and the system from the so called unscrupulous elements if ever the applicant is asking for frivolous information provided the official is ready to apply his/her mind and understand the RTI act. 3. Why does a poor man need 100 pages?: This is one of the most insensitive comments made till date by anybody leave alone an Information Commissioner. The act does not differentiate between a poor and a rich person. This comment smacks of elitist attitude. It is often the poor who fight against wrong doings and they will need 1000 if not 100 pages. The statement reinforces the attitude of a certain section of people in this country like Mr Vijaya Babu that the law only works for rich people.

These are very serious issues and i request to immediately seek an explanation from Mr Vijaya Babu apart from asking him to issue a public apology for these statements. The activists will be forced to protest and take up this issue in a big way if the Information Commissioner does not withdraw these comments and issue a public apology. Thanks & Regards