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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | 'Amendments to RTI Act must be rejected' -Gautam Bhatia

'Amendments to RTI Act must be rejected' -Gautam Bhatia

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published Published on Jul 25, 2019   modified Modified on Jul 25, 2019
-Mumbai Mirror

On July 22, the Lok Sabha passed a set of amendments to the Right to Information Act, which – if enacted into law – will have dangerous consequences for open and transparent governance. Notably, these amendments were first proposed towards the fag end of the previous NDA government’s tenure, but in the face of sustained protests, were not carried forward.

Nevertheless, one of the first legislative acts of the government – after having been returned to power in the 2019 elections – was to bring back the amendments (without any public consultation), and this time, get them passed through the Lower House.

To understand the context of the amendments – and why they are so dangerous – it is important to understand how the nerve centre of the RTI is the office of the Information Commissioner(s). The RTI establishes a Central Information Commission as well State Information Commissions, manned by Information Commissioners. The task of the Information Commissioners is to adjudicate claims where citizens seeking information from public authorities – under the aegis of the RTI – have been denied the same. In a sense, therefore, the Information Commissioners stand between the individual and the government, tasked with ensuring the fair and impartial implementation of the RTI Act.

Until now, the Right to Information Act focused on ensuring that the Information Commissioners – who are, as we have seen, the public officials tasked with deciding claims under the RTI – would be independent of the government. The status of the Information Commissioners was similar to that of Election Commissioners. And to ensure independence in decision-making, Information Commissioners also had guaranteed tenure. The reasons for these were simple: the RTI Act was designed to redress the imbalance of power between the citizen and the State, by making the State transparent and accountable to the citizen. For this reason, the body that would have to adjudicate between the two – and especially, in cases where public information officers had denied information (a frequent occurrence) – it would naturally have to be independent of the State. It is the same logic that requires election commissioners – tasked with maintaining the ground rules of the democratic process – to be independent of the government.

Despite many problems, this structure has worked effectively. Over the last decade and half, the RTI has become one of the most effective tools to ensure democratic governance, by ensuring accountability from government agencies. Ironically enough, the numerous attacks – and even killings – of RTI activists stand testament to the democratic – and democratising – power of this law.

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Mumbai Mirror, 24 July, 2019, https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/mumbai/cover-story/amendments-to-rti-act-must-be-rejected/amp_articleshow/70354777.cms?__twitter_impression=true&fbclid=IwAR0bw2yb


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