Student beaten up for seeking info under RTI

BY SONAL KELLOGG

New Delhi

Aug. 8: Mohsin, a Class 9 student, feared that seeking information under the RTI Act could pose a physical threat to him. His fear was not unfounded.

The boy, a student of Government Boys Senior Secondary School, was to taken to hospital on Thu-rsday by the police after he was allegedly thrashed by one of his teachers during school hours.

In his RTI filed under the life and liberty clause on April 1, 2008, the boy asked for copies of his answer sheets after he was declared failed by the school.

However, when he did not get a response, Mohsin complained to the CIC. During the hearing, he told the CIC that he anticipated physical harm for daring to file the application which promp-ted the CIC to issue an order warning the school that the boy should not be "harassed" or they would face severe consequences. The CIC also told the school to give him copies of his answer sheets and also let him view the answer sheets of other students of the class.

This enraged the school authorities, said Mohsin’s uncle Arif Hussain, who represented the boy during his CIC hearing on June 9, 2008. Mr Hussain told this newspaper that Mohsin was forced by the school authorities to withdraw the application. But he didn’t do so. Also, no information was given to Mohsin.

Instead, he was beaten up in the school allegedly by a teacher identified by Mohsin as Mr Jai Singh Yadav.