RTI Commissioner Dr M Sridhar Acharyulu, the information commissioner of India, opposed the proposed amendments to the RTI Act.
RTI Commissioner Shridhar Acharyulu (Ravindra Joshi/HT PHOTO)
Pune: RTI Commissioner Dr M Sridhar Aharyulu accused the government of interfering with the independence of CIC by proposing amendments to the RTI ACT.
The Central Information Commission (CIC) is an authorised body under the RTI Act which was established in 2005 under the government of India. It acted upon complaints from people who didn’t get their complaints addressed through due process.
Acharyulu, the information commissioner of India, opposed the proposed amendments to the RTI Act. He was speaking at an event organised by the NGO Moneylife Foundation and Pune Union of Working Journalists at the Patrakar Bhavan in Pune on Saturday.
Acharyulu said an RTI application was like a “Rs 10 Public Interest Litigation (PIL)” as it allowed citizens to fight for their rights. “Article 226 of the Indian Constitution allows any citizen to approach the courts to file a PIL if their fundamental rights are violated. However, this option is out of reach for many, which is why RTI comes into play,” he said in a report by The Indian Express.
“The two amendments proposed to the RTI Act would be detrimental to it. The amendments propose to control the term as well as salaries of information commissioners, which amounted to challenging the independence of the commissionerates,” the CIC said in the report.
In a report by Hindustan Times, it was reported that he hit out at the Union Government. He said, “The amendments proposed by the central government in the RTI Act, verily mitigate the power of the commission. By amending the existing act, the government is trying to reduce the status and the power of the central information commission.”
“In the bureaucratic hierarchy, if the CIC commissioner is below the secretary, he cannot pass the order to provide information sought through an RTI. These changes will in a sense enervate the power of the commission. Central government has no authority to make any changes in this regard and what they have proposed is absolutely wrong,” he said in the report.
“Acharyulu also expressed his astonishment over the Supreme Court asking the Centre to submit details of the decision-making process of the Rafale deal. He said, ‘I am surprised that now the Supreme Court has asked the government for the information regarding the decision-making process of the Rafale deal. Technical details of the deal are not important. Besides, why should the SC even ask for this information in the first place.’ Giving information is a symbol of good governance, however, when the government does not want to give information, it uses all the possible clauses to avoid the situation and refuses to give the information eventually, he added, referring to the Rafale deal,” the report said.
The Central Information Commission (CIC) is an authorised body under the RTI Act which was established in 2005 under the government of India. It acted upon complaints from people who didn’t get their complaints addressed through due process.
Acharyulu, the information commissioner of India, opposed the proposed amendments to the RTI Act. He was speaking at an event organised by the NGO Moneylife Foundation and Pune Union of Working Journalists at the Patrakar Bhavan in Pune on Saturday.
Acharyulu said an RTI application was like a “Rs 10 Public Interest Litigation (PIL)” as it allowed citizens to fight for their rights. “Article 226 of the Indian Constitution allows any citizen to approach the courts to file a PIL if their fundamental rights are violated. However, this option is out of reach for many, which is why RTI comes into play,” he said in a report by The Indian Express.
“The two amendments proposed to the RTI Act would be detrimental to it. The amendments propose to control the term as well as salaries of information commissioners, which amounted to challenging the independence of the commissionerates,” the CIC said in the report.
In a report by Hindustan Times, it was reported that he hit out at the Union Government. He said, “The amendments proposed by the central government in the RTI Act, verily mitigate the power of the commission. By amending the existing act, the government is trying to reduce the status and the power of the central information commission.”
“In the bureaucratic hierarchy, if the CIC commissioner is below the secretary, he cannot pass the order to provide information sought through an RTI. These changes will in a sense enervate the power of the commission. Central government has no authority to make any changes in this regard and what they have proposed is absolutely wrong,” he said in the report.
“Acharyulu also expressed his astonishment over the Supreme Court asking the Centre to submit details of the decision-making process of the Rafale deal. He said, ‘I am surprised that now the Supreme Court has asked the government for the information regarding the decision-making process of the Rafale deal. Technical details of the deal are not important. Besides, why should the SC even ask for this information in the first place.’ Giving information is a symbol of good governance, however, when the government does not want to give information, it uses all the possible clauses to avoid the situation and refuses to give the information eventually, he added, referring to the Rafale deal,” the report said.