An RTI activist has sent the Mumbai University (MU) a legal notice for not providing information he had sought under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
While the activist has, through his lawyer, given the University seven days to respond, MU officials told The Hindu that they have provided the information they had and that they were yet to receive the notice.
According to Kalyan-based businessman Ramesh Shinde (31), a friend told him about land-related issues of an education institute run by a trust in 2016. Mr. Shinde filed an RTI for the same on March 23, 2016 before the Maharashtra Rajya Vyavsay Shikshan Pariksha Mandal (MRVSPM) in Bandra.
“Judging by their reply, it was clear something was amiss. So, I filed another RTI on August 22, 2016 before the Panvel sub-registrar. Convinced by the reply we received, we lodged a complaint with MRVSPM, that then ordered their own inquiry,” he said.
In its letter dated September 13, 2017, a copy of which is with this newspaper, the MRVSPM wrote to the chairman of the trust that it was suspending permissions given to the institute in question as it found that the trust had breached MRVSPM rules.
“Last year, I learned that there are other institutes of the trust running similarly in the area. They are affiliated to the MU and have a NAAC accreditation as well. I filed three more RTIs, seeking their papers. In response to my first appeal, the MU said they passed the request to the trust,” the businessman said.
Mr. Shinde filed a second appeal for his RTI on the trust’s B.Ed institute on December 13, 2018. The State Information Commission (SIC), in its order dated January 28, 2019, directed the MU to conduct a hearing with the complainant by Wednesday and submit a report on March 7. After silence from the University, Mr. Shinde decided to take the issue up legally. “I am soon going to file a second appeal for my RTI on the M.Ed institute,” he said.
“I have not received the information yet. In one of their replies, the MU said that they had sent my application to the trust for details. They are passing around the buck. If the MU does’nt have the papers, how have they given permission? That they are delaying the provision of information is itself an indication that something is fishy,” Mr. Shinde said.
The trust in November, 2018, wrote to MU calling out Mr. Shinde for “misusing the RTI provisions for seeking a bribe.”
Mr. Shinde’s lawyer, Sachin Pawar, said, “It is the duty of the University to provide information when sought or at least follow the SIC’s orders. This is a violation of his rights.”
Deepak Vasave, Deputy Registrar, Affiliations Department of MU, said, “In this matter, the parties have their own issues and there is a complaint against the applicant too. The University has to keep certain information at the time of opening of the college, but sometimes we keep information in our record room and in urgent cases, we direct the request to the college. Information that specifically falls under its jurisdiction is referred to the concerned college. For further information, I will have to study the matter. We will go through the legal notice and respond precisely.”