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NRI Dr Kunal Saha's appeal petition helped to amend RTI act
2005-
Now NRIs and PIOs have the access to Government records
NEW DELHI, Sept 5, 2008
Sudesh Sharma
The Right to Information Act
2005 (Act No. 22/2005)[1] is a law enacted
by the Parliament of India giving citizens of India (except
those in the State of Jammu and Kashmir who have their own
special law) access to Government records. Under the terms
of the Act, any person may request information from a "public
authority" (a body of Government or instrumentality of
State) which is required to reply expeditiously or within
thirty days. The Act also requires every public authority
to computerise their records for wide dissemination and to
proactively publish certain categories of information so that
the citizens need minimum recourse to request for information
formally.
Under this law, NRIs and PIOs were excluded from
"The Right to Information Act 2005"
NRI Dr Kunal Saha launched his fight against medical negligence
after his wife died in 1998, allegedly due to wrong dose/therapy
administered to her at the hospital in India.
Dr Kunal Saha, who was denied information by West Bengal
Medical Council on details of the medical treatment given
to his late wife, Dr Anuradha Saha, at a Kolkata hospital,
on the ground that he was not entitled to the same because
he was not a citizen of India.
The Supreme Court today gave liberty to all overseas Indians
to seek information from any public authority/organisation
or institution under the Right to Information, Act, 2005,
saying the right is available to all persons of Indian origin
(PIOs) who have obtained the status of Pravasi Bharatiya.
NRI
doctor Saha filed case at SC to amend RTI Law which discriminate
NRIs
Columbus, Ohio, Nov. 21, 2007
Dr. Kunal Saha, M.D., Ph.D.
2002. Two separate but related criminal and civil appeals
(for a compensation of over Rs. 144 crore, highest in Indian
medico-legal history) for the wrongful death of my wife are
currently pending for final verdict before the Apex court
in India. People for Better Treatment (PBT), a humanitarian
organization to help the victims of medical negligence, has
been established in India where thousands of innocent victims
of malpractice have joined seeking justice (Web: WWW.PBTINDIA.COM).
Although two doctors were convicted by the court in India
for criminal negligence, the West Bengal Medical Council (WBMC)
exonerated these doctors through an alleged "internal
investigation" behind closed door. I filed a complaint
of medical negligence to the medical council with supporting
opinions from numerous medical experts from across the world.
Without providing any details, the WBMC claimed that their
own medical experts found no evidence of medical negligence
in the death of my wife. After the RTI Act became law in India
in 2005, I appealed to the WBMC to provide me all information
of their internal investigation including the so-called expert
opinions under the RTI Act.
I eventually had to move the Calcutta High Court (HC) since
the WBMC remained silent. In a shocking judgment, the Calcutta
HC dismissed my writ petition in September, 2007. Taking the
side of the sinister WBMC, the Calcutta HC agreed with the
bogus claim by the WBMC that since I am an NRI and a dual
citizen (of Indian and USA), I have no right to obtain any
information under the RTI Act. The SLP was filed yesterday
in the Supreme Court challenging the mindless observation
made by the Calcutta HC.
As the above discussion would suggest, this SLP has immense
ramification for all NRIs, many of whom have become naturalized
citizens in their adopted country of residence for a variety
of reasons. NRIs have contributed significantly in the progress
of modern India, especially in the recent years. Even though
the NRIs may have permanent residences outside India, they
are no less patriotic for their motherland than other Indian
citizens who are living in India.
The hypocritical nature of the Indian government is obvious
on one hand they encourage the NRIs to come to India and to
invest in its development but on the other hand, NRIs are
treated as a second-class citizens as they are not even entitled
to obtain information under the RTI Act. This is clearly biased
and discriminatory action against all NRIs including the dual
citizens living abroad. As you can see from the attached SLP
filed in the SC, I have asked the Apex court to denounce this
injustice by the Indian government and clarify the RTI Act
so that NRIs and citizens of other countries cannot be denied
pertinent information by the government and public service
workers in India. I urge you to bring this important issue
to all NRIs living abroad so that become aware and raise their
voices against this grave travesty. You can Dr. at Email:
anku1@earthlink.net
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SYNOPSIS AND LIST OF DATES
Two seminal questions related to the essential principles
behind the freedom of information are involved in this Special
Leave Petition.
a) Whether the fundamental right to obtain information
under the “Rights to Information Act, 2005” (RTI
Act) is applicable only for selected groups of people based
on their origin or citizenship status and
b) Whether non-resident Indians (NRIs) and Overseas
Citizens of India (OCIs) could be barred from obtaining information
under the RTI Act?.....READ
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