🏛️ RTI Is Not Grievance Redressal? — A Doctrinal Rebuttal to Judicial Mischaracterization

Author: Rajnish Ratnakar Affiliation: RTI & Public Grievance Warriors of India Date:23rd September 2025

🔍 Introduction: The Constitutional Misstep

In recent years, certain High Court and Supreme Court judgments have dangerously mischaracterized the Right to Information (RTI) as “not a grievance redressal mechanism.” This doctrinal error has led to the dismissal of citizen audits, denial of certified records, and erosion of democratic oversight.

This blog exposes those judgments, rebuts their logic, and affirms that weakening democracy is itself a grievous injury—one that deprives every citizen of their intangible constitutional assets.

📜 RTI Act: A Democracy-Strengthening Statute

The RTI Act, 2005 is not a service complaint tool—it is a constitutional instrument rooted in Article 19(1)(a), which guarantees the right to know. It empowers citizens to:

  • Access certified records.
  • Audit custodianship failures.
  • Trigger systemic accountability.

When citizens file RTI applications to expose opacity, they are not seeking personal redress—they are defending democracy.

⚖️ Judicial Mischaracterizations: Case Studies

1. Adesh Kumar v. Union of India (Delhi HC, 2014)

Finding: RTI cannot be used to “settle grievances.” Error: The petitioner sought reasons for administrative decisions affecting public interest. The court dismissed it as grievance, ignoring Section 4(1)(d) which mandates disclosure of reasons for decisions.

2. CPIO, Supreme Court v. Subhash Chandra Agarwal (SC, 2019)

Finding: RTI access to collegium records upheld, but with caution. Error: While the SC affirmed RTI’s scope, it introduced “public interest balancing” that diluted the citizen’s right to audit judicial opacity.

3. Union of India v. Namit Sharma (SC, 2013)

Finding: Information Commissioners need not be judicially trained. Error: Undermined the doctrinal rigor of RTI adjudication, weakening its capacity to address constitutional grievances.

🧠 Doctrinal Rebuttal: Why These Judgments Are Flawed

  • RTI ≠ Grievance Redressal is a false binary. Citizens use RTI to audit grievance-inducing opacity—not to seek compensation or service correction.
  • Section 4(1)(d) of RTI Act mandates explanation. Denial of reasons is denial of democracy.
  • Democracy-weakening decisions—opaque transfers, record evasion, custodianship collapse—are public injuries. Every citizen is harmed when institutions operate in secrecy.

🛑 The Injury: Deprivation of Intangible Constitutional Assets

When RTI is denied or diluted:

  • Citizens lose access to certified truth.
  • Democratic institutions evade custodianship accountability.
  • Public records become private fiefdoms.
  • The constitutional property of transparency is stolen.

This is not a technical lapse—it is a mass grievance, affecting every citizen’s intangible constitutional estate.

📣 Call to Action: Reclaim RTI as a Grievance Audit Tool

  • CICs must doctrinally affirm that RTI is a democracy-defending statute.
  • Media must expose judicial override and statutory dilution.
  • Citizen auditors must replicate RTI-PG hybrids like CS4M to trigger mass accountability.

🖋️ Closing Note

RTI is not just a statutory right—it is a constitutional weapon. When courts mischaracterize it, they do not just dismiss a petition—they dismiss democracy.

 

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