RTIs filed by Once in a Blue Moon Academia (OBMA)

RTIs filed by Once in a Blue Moon Academia (OBMA)

Posted on 13/02/2024 (GMT 15:30 hrs)

At a time when India is ruled by crony oligarchy with the predominance of two-three business tycoons at the forefront of framing all public policies, taking all judicial decisions and a situation of mass censorship, the Right To Information Act (2005) has suffered major blows. As a democratic tool ensuring communication between the so-called “governed” and the “governing”, thus paving the way to accountable practices, RTI has been killed by the current group of religious fanatics, who rule India.

This sorry state of affairs of the RTI has been pointed out by a number of leaders from the Opposition, especially following the amendments to the RTI act made by the BJP government, which will ensure that no Information Commissioner shall be free from interference and signaling by the Modi government:

Sonia Gandhi condemns RTI Act amendment; calls it Modi govt’s self-serving action VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 31st October, 2019 ©Business Today)

Modi Govt ‘Killing’ RTI Act As Part Of Conspiracy To End Democracy, Alleges Congress Chief Kharge VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 24th August, 2023 ©Outlook)

The intentions of the current ruling party, the BJP, on the RTI issue is as clear as the noonday sun:

Modi Degree Plea: Curiosity not public interest; RTI used for childish jabs, says High Court VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 10th February, 2023 ©Organiser)

Stamping RTI activism as “childish jibes” is understandable when India is run by a party that bases itself on pseudological narrative-constructs, ushering India into a realm of post-truths, inverted truths, lies propaganized so much that they become “truths” in the public sphere:

Without being demoralized due to the same, the OBMA member-activists have filed quite a few RTI applications in the past few years, in order to restate the democratic practice. Most of these RTIs are related to one of OBMA’s chief concerns, i.e., the DHFL scam.

The list of RTIs filed by OBMA along with their respective URLs and other relevant information is provided as follows:

Sr. Nos.	RTI	Addressed To	Date	Remarks
1.	AN RTI ON THE ALLEGED COLLUSION AMONG DAWOOD-MIRCHI-RKW-DHFL-BJP⤡	Ministry of Economic Affairs Transferred To: Home Affairs	15.02.2022	The questions were ignored in the replies of the CPIO and FAA by saying that the application is “hypothetical” and does not come under the RTI Act!
2.	AN RTI ON “WHO OWNS DHFL NOW: PCHF OR PIRAMAL FINANCE?”⤡	Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board	21.06.2022	Reply was given by saying that the information asked does not come under the RTI Act, Section 2(f)! Furthermore, one should not ask “wh…” questions in RTIs, where as in fact we did not ask any such “wh…” questions!
3.	WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DECEPTIVE AUDITING OF THE DHFL? AN RTI TO THE CAG OF INDIA⤡	COMPTROLLER AND AUDITOR GENERAL OF INDIA (CAG) Transferred To: Institute of Chartered Accountants	29.06.2022	According to the reply to this RTI, it was said that we have failed to raise “specific queries” related to the points of concern, even though we asked one precise, simple question!
4.	AN RTI TO THE DEPARTMENT OF LEGAL AFFAIRS REGARDING THE DISPUTED OWNERSHIP STATUS OF THE DHFL⤡	Department of Legal Affairs First Transfer: Ministry of Corporate Affairs Second Transfer: Registrar of Companies, Delhi and Haryana (ROCDH) Third Transfer: Registrar of Companies, Mumbai (ROCMU)	20.09.2022	The reply stated that asking certain “wh…” questions are prohibited under the RTI Act, viz., why, what, when, whether, if and interrogative queries viz. How, why, when. However, our RTI application did not even mention any of the above terms! What a strange answer indeed! The further appeals made the authorities further say their usual ignoring/avoiding reply: the given RTI does not fall under Section 2(f) of the RTI Act!
5.	WAS DHFL THE NBFC UNDER THE RBI?⤡	Department of Economic Affairs Transferred to: RBI Further Transferred To: NHB	21.09.2023	They cited few relevant documents/URLs that helped us to further target the points raised in our given questions.
6.	AN RTI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA ON BEHALF OF DHFL VICTIMS FOR RESOLVING THE PENDING CASES⤡ ⤡	Department of Justice Physically Transferred to: SCI	09.12.2023	In Process… (View given link for all updates)
7.	CLAIM OF OWNERSHIP VS BEING-IN-SUB JUDICE: AN RTI TO THE MINISTRY OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS⤡	Ministry of Corporate Affairs	22.12.2023	Same as before: the question raised does not fall under the definition of “information” under the RTI Act, where as it in fact does! In Process… (View given link for all updates)
8.	RTI ON SUPREME COURT PORTAL REGARDING WADHAWAN BROTHERS AND INSOLVENCY ISSUE⤡	SCI	06.01.2024	In Process… (View given link for all updates)
9.	REGARDING THE UTILIZATION OF SEBI INVESTOR PROTECTION FUND (IPF) FOR FD HOLDERS OF AN “INSOLVENT” COMPANY	SEBI	23.12.2023	Same as usual: the question asked does not fall under the definition of “information” under the RTI Act, where as it in fact does!
10.	ON THE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF THE RAM MANDIR INAUGURATION BY A SITTING PRIME MINISTER	PMO	28.01.2024	Reply Still Pending (To Be Updated)

To Be Updated…