Click to play videoNew Delhi: The Right to Information Act (RTI) came into being less than a year ago and it's being misused already.
The Central Information Commission (CIC) says it's loaded with applications that have little public interest or value.
Sources have told CNN-IBN that nearly 50 per cent of all the applications which come to the CIC are frivolous, petty and highly personalised and this trend is worrying the commission's top officials.
Says Information Commissioner M M Ansari, "We see that our limited resources are being devoted to attending to frivolous applications, which constitute to more than 50 per cent of our workload. A large number of people are simply misusing the RTI."
It's nearly been a year since the CIC was constituted. There have been no improvements in the past year - it still functions from a dingy office, is highly understaffed and pressed for space.
With this background, officials say if such applications keep mounting, then perhaps an amendment in the RTI act, as to what should be the minimum criteria for an application to be entertained could be explored.
However, RTI activists say that this percentage figure is exaggerated.
Says one such activist Arvind Kejriwal, "What might be frivolous for you might mean life and death is another."
It is now important for RTI users to ensure that they exercise their rights wisely so that the Right to Information petitions do not become like most public interest litigations.
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