Punjab varsity seeks Rs 12L for RTI reply

TNN 2 November 2009 TOI CHANDIGARH: Chandigarh’s Panjab University (PU) has asked an LLM student, Varun Malik, to pay a whopping Rs 12.22 lakh for replies that he had sought to 19 queries under the Right to Information Act. Malik alleged that PU asked him to pay through the nose to discourage him from seeking information that could blow the lid off various scams on the campus. The officials maintain that Malik has to pay the fee as RTI rules make it clear that the petitioner has to pay Rs 2 per page for the information sought. ‘‘The information Malik has sought runs into more than 6 lakh pages,’’ an official said. Malik is unconvinced. ‘‘It’s surprising that the information would run into so many pages,’’ he said. PU has sent Malik two reminders for the payment, saying the information was almost complete. He has been advised to avoid using ‘‘unparliamentary” language while talking to its officials.