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Interviews | Nikhil Dey Co-convener, NCPRI interviewed by Kunal Majumder

Nikhil Dey Co-convener, NCPRI interviewed by Kunal Majumder

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published Published on Jun 25, 2011   modified Modified on Jun 25, 2011

The government says the CBI was taken out of RTI purview as it gathers intelligence and safeguards our economic security. Doesn’t the RTI already have provisions against giving out sensitive information?

Section 8(1) of the RTI Act gives all the protection these agencies need. If the CBI does not want to reveal certain aspects of their investigation, they can do so as guided by the RTI Act. There are provisions made just for intelligence and security agencies. The CBI is not an intelligence or a security agency. I’m yet to hear an argument that justifies a blanket exemption.

So you agree that certain aspects need to be kept secret?

Of course, for any investigating agency, certain things have to be kept secret. The RTI Act does not ask for every bit of information. It has exemptions. Now, there is a provision that in case of corruption and human right violations, even those agencies have to answer. What the CBI and other such agencies are trying to do now is escape from the RTI scanner.

What about the other agencies that have been exempted, such as NIA and Natgrid?

There is no justification for any blanket exemption. The operation of these agencies might well be secret but the administrative functions are not secret. The RTI takes care of aspects that can be and/or should be kept secret. In fact, we do not even support Section 24 of the RTI Act (that gives an exemption to intelligence and security organisations from RTI). Exemptions under Section 8 (that allow public authority to restrict sensitive information) are enough. Yet, we are not asking for any amendment because we are worried that the government will follow it up with other amendments, which is not desirable. But we have been demanding that strict norms must be laid down on what classifies as a security and intelligence agency worthy of being covered by the Second Schedule (list of agencies exempt from the RTI). This should be applied to all the 23 agencies that have been exempted.

So there is an urgent need to define intelligence and security agencies?

Yes. The government has to define as well as differentiate between investigative, intelligence and security agencies. If any agency that gathers intelligence is an intelligence agency then every police thana is an intelligence agency.

Questions have been raised about the manner in which the government notified the exemption.

The revised schedule has to be placed in Parliament. It does not require parliamentary approval. They just get post-facto approval. Although you are changing a part of a intellilaw by adding an agency in the schedule, the executive keeps the power to make that change. They say it is a policy change. The method of notification was undoubtedly a violation of RTI Act. Section 4(1)C of the Act states that the government should discuss policy decisions with the public. In the context of the current debate on corruption, it is a big policy change. Transparency is the best way to show an agency is just. Else, people will continue to call the CBI a puppet in the hands of the ruling party.

Has this move set a bad precedent?

The impact will be terrible. Soon, state police will claim RTI exemption, and to make matters worse, state governments have the power to decide for those agencies.
 
 
Tehelka Magazine, Vol 8, Issue 26, 02 July 2011, http://www.tehelka.com/story_main50.asp?filename=Ne020711CBI.asp  

Tehelka Magazine, Vol 8, Issue 26, 02 July 2011, http://www.tehelka.com/story_main50.asp?filename=Ne020711CBI.asp


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