Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 73
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
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Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 74
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Code Context
            if (Configure::read('debug')) {

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    <link rel="canonical" href="https://im4change.in/<pre class="cake-error"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f49615bb3b3-trace').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f49615bb3b3-trace').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none');"><b>Notice</b> (8)</a>: Undefined variable: urlPrefix [<b>APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp</b>, line <b>8</b>]<div id="cakeErr67f49615bb3b3-trace" class="cake-stack-trace" style="display: none;"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f49615bb3b3-code').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f49615bb3b3-code').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Code</a> <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f49615bb3b3-context').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f49615bb3b3-context').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Context</a><pre id="cakeErr67f49615bb3b3-code" class="cake-code-dump" style="display: none;"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"></span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">head</span><span style="color: #007700">&gt;
</span></span></code>
<span class="code-highlight"><code><span style="color: #000000">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;link&nbsp;rel="canonical"&nbsp;href="<span style="color: #0000BB">&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">Configure</span><span style="color: #007700">::</span><span style="color: #0000BB">read</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">'SITE_URL'</span><span style="color: #007700">);&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$urlPrefix</span><span style="color: #007700">;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$article_current</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">category</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">slug</span><span style="color: #007700">;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;</span>/<span style="color: #0000BB">&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$article_current</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">seo_url</span><span style="color: #007700">;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;</span>.html"/&gt;
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</span></span></code></pre><pre id="cakeErr67f49615bb3b3-context" class="cake-context" style="display: none;">$viewFile = &#039;/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp&#039;
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&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Fourteen national and international non-government organisations and academic centres have called for reforms in what they say are excessively-broad exemptions granted to the government on national security issues by the Right to Information (RTI) Act.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
To guide decision-making on information requests relating to national security, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), along with other groups, is in the process of formulating &amp;ldquo;guidelines&amp;rdquo; to bring about consensus on the extent of restrictions permissible on access to information.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
At a two-day national conference on &amp;ldquo;National Security and People&#039;s Right to Information in India&amp;rdquo; that concluded here on Monday, CHRI director Maja Daruwala highlighted how the bogey of national security was being used to withhold information by the authorities.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;In the context of the RTI Act, national security has not yet been clearly defined. The fluidity of the concept makes it very easy for the government to call in aid of non-disclosure that the information required comes under &amp;lsquo;national security&#039; and withhold the information or to enter into a long drawn battle, which very few have the capacity to continue engaging in.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Security defined&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
The main argument was that before using national security as an excuse to exempt information from getting into public domain, the term needs to be defined by the democratic process of debate and discussion, she added.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Muzaffar Bhat, an RTI activist from Jammu and Kashmir, spoke about an instance which highlighted the tension between the government&#039;s desire to keep information secret on the ground of national security and the public&#039;s right to information. In November 2011, he filed an RTI in the Union Home Ministry, asking for the Interlocutor&#039;s Report on J&amp;amp;K. Even though he was denied the report by the Ministry on the pretext of national security in December, the report was made public on May 24.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Right abuses&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Venkatesh Nayak of the CHRI argued that &amp;ldquo;there have been lots of instances where the paramilitary forces have denied information related to human rights abuses and corruption using national security as an excuse, which needs to be stopped&amp;rdquo;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;Since national security is a pre-condition for the full enjoyment of all human rights, including the right to information, some degree of secrecy is appropriate in specific circumstances,&amp;rdquo; it said.
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&lt;br /&gt;
To guide decision-making on information requests relating to national security, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), along with other groups, is in the process of formulating &amp;ldquo;guidelines&amp;rdquo; to bring about consensus on the extent of restrictions permissible on access to information.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
At a two-day national conference on &amp;ldquo;National Security and People&#039;s Right to Information in India&amp;rdquo; that concluded here on Monday, CHRI director Maja Daruwala highlighted how the bogey of national security was being used to withhold information by the authorities.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;In the context of the RTI Act, national security has not yet been clearly defined. The fluidity of the concept makes it very easy for the government to call in aid of non-disclosure that the information required comes under &amp;lsquo;national security&#039; and withhold the information or to enter into a long drawn battle, which very few have the capacity to continue engaging in.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Security defined&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
The main argument was that before using national security as an excuse to exempt information from getting into public domain, the term needs to be defined by the democratic process of debate and discussion, she added.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Muzaffar Bhat, an RTI activist from Jammu and Kashmir, spoke about an instance which highlighted the tension between the government&#039;s desire to keep information secret on the ground of national security and the public&#039;s right to information. In November 2011, he filed an RTI in the Union Home Ministry, asking for the Interlocutor&#039;s Report on J&amp;amp;K. Even though he was denied the report by the Ministry on the pretext of national security in December, the report was made public on May 24.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
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Venkatesh Nayak of the CHRI argued that &amp;ldquo;there have been lots of instances where the paramilitary forces have denied information related to human rights abuses and corruption using national security as an excuse, which needs to be stopped&amp;rdquo;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The draft of the guidelines being formulated by the NGOs says &amp;ldquo;access to information by enabling public scrutiny of government action not only safeguards against government abuse and abuse by government officials but also permits the public to play a role in determining the policies of the government.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;Since national security is a pre-condition for the full enjoyment of all human rights, including the right to information, some degree of secrecy is appropriate in specific circumstances,&amp;rdquo; it said.
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Fourteen national and international non-government organisations and academic centres have called for reforms in what they say are excessively-broad exemptions granted to the government on national security issues by the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

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Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
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Fourteen national and international non-government organisations and academic centres have called for reforms in what they say are excessively-broad exemptions granted to the government on national security issues by the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

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                <strong>Balancing national security and right to information-Mohammad Ali</strong></h1>
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                <br /><div align="justify">Fourteen national and international non-government organisations and academic centres have called for reforms in what they say are excessively-broad exemptions granted to the government on national security issues by the Right to Information (RTI) Act.<br /><br />To guide decision-making on information requests relating to national security, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), along with other groups, is in the process of formulating &ldquo;guidelines&rdquo; to bring about consensus on the extent of restrictions permissible on access to information.<br /><br />At a two-day national conference on &ldquo;National Security and People's Right to Information in India&rdquo; that concluded here on Monday, CHRI director Maja Daruwala highlighted how the bogey of national security was being used to withhold information by the authorities.<br /><br />&ldquo;In the context of the RTI Act, national security has not yet been clearly defined. The fluidity of the concept makes it very easy for the government to call in aid of non-disclosure that the information required comes under &lsquo;national security' and withhold the information or to enter into a long drawn battle, which very few have the capacity to continue engaging in.&rdquo;<br /><br /><em>Security defined<br /></em><br />The main argument was that before using national security as an excuse to exempt information from getting into public domain, the term needs to be defined by the democratic process of debate and discussion, she added.<br /><br />Muzaffar Bhat, an RTI activist from Jammu and Kashmir, spoke about an instance which highlighted the tension between the government's desire to keep information secret on the ground of national security and the public's right to information. In November 2011, he filed an RTI in the Union Home Ministry, asking for the Interlocutor's Report on J&amp;K. Even though he was denied the report by the Ministry on the pretext of national security in December, the report was made public on May 24.<br /><br /><em>Right abuses<br /></em><br />Venkatesh Nayak of the CHRI argued that &ldquo;there have been lots of instances where the paramilitary forces have denied information related to human rights abuses and corruption using national security as an excuse, which needs to be stopped&rdquo;.<br /><br />The draft of the guidelines being formulated by the NGOs says &ldquo;access to information by enabling public scrutiny of government action not only safeguards against government abuse and abuse by government officials but also permits the public to play a role in determining the policies of the government.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Since national security is a pre-condition for the full enjoyment of all human rights, including the right to information, some degree of secrecy is appropriate in specific circumstances,&rdquo; it said.</div>               </font>
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    <link rel="canonical" href="https://im4change.in/<pre class="cake-error"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f49615bb3b3-trace').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f49615bb3b3-trace').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none');"><b>Notice</b> (8)</a>: Undefined variable: urlPrefix [<b>APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp</b>, line <b>8</b>]<div id="cakeErr67f49615bb3b3-trace" class="cake-stack-trace" style="display: none;"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f49615bb3b3-code').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f49615bb3b3-code').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Code</a> <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f49615bb3b3-context').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f49615bb3b3-context').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Context</a><pre id="cakeErr67f49615bb3b3-code" class="cake-code-dump" style="display: none;"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"></span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">head</span><span style="color: #007700">&gt;
</span></span></code>
<span class="code-highlight"><code><span style="color: #000000">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;link&nbsp;rel="canonical"&nbsp;href="<span style="color: #0000BB">&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">Configure</span><span style="color: #007700">::</span><span style="color: #0000BB">read</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">'SITE_URL'</span><span style="color: #007700">);&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$urlPrefix</span><span style="color: #007700">;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$article_current</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">category</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">slug</span><span style="color: #007700">;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;</span>/<span style="color: #0000BB">&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$article_current</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">seo_url</span><span style="color: #007700">;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;</span>.html"/&gt;
</span></code></span>
<code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">meta&nbsp;http</span><span style="color: #007700">-</span><span style="color: #0000BB">equiv</span><span style="color: #007700">=</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"Content-Type"&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">content</span><span style="color: #007700">=</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"text/html;&nbsp;charset=utf-8"</span><span style="color: #007700">/&gt;
</span></span></code></pre><pre id="cakeErr67f49615bb3b3-context" class="cake-context" style="display: none;">$viewFile = &#039;/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp&#039;
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&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Fourteen national and international non-government organisations and academic centres have called for reforms in what they say are excessively-broad exemptions granted to the government on national security issues by the Right to Information (RTI) Act.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
To guide decision-making on information requests relating to national security, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), along with other groups, is in the process of formulating &amp;ldquo;guidelines&amp;rdquo; to bring about consensus on the extent of restrictions permissible on access to information.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
At a two-day national conference on &amp;ldquo;National Security and People&#039;s Right to Information in India&amp;rdquo; that concluded here on Monday, CHRI director Maja Daruwala highlighted how the bogey of national security was being used to withhold information by the authorities.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;In the context of the RTI Act, national security has not yet been clearly defined. The fluidity of the concept makes it very easy for the government to call in aid of non-disclosure that the information required comes under &amp;lsquo;national security&#039; and withhold the information or to enter into a long drawn battle, which very few have the capacity to continue engaging in.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Security defined&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
The main argument was that before using national security as an excuse to exempt information from getting into public domain, the term needs to be defined by the democratic process of debate and discussion, she added.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Muzaffar Bhat, an RTI activist from Jammu and Kashmir, spoke about an instance which highlighted the tension between the government&#039;s desire to keep information secret on the ground of national security and the public&#039;s right to information. In November 2011, he filed an RTI in the Union Home Ministry, asking for the Interlocutor&#039;s Report on J&amp;amp;K. Even though he was denied the report by the Ministry on the pretext of national security in December, the report was made public on May 24.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Right abuses&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Venkatesh Nayak of the CHRI argued that &amp;ldquo;there have been lots of instances where the paramilitary forces have denied information related to human rights abuses and corruption using national security as an excuse, which needs to be stopped&amp;rdquo;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The draft of the guidelines being formulated by the NGOs says &amp;ldquo;access to information by enabling public scrutiny of government action not only safeguards against government abuse and abuse by government officials but also permits the public to play a role in determining the policies of the government.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;Since national security is a pre-condition for the full enjoyment of all human rights, including the right to information, some degree of secrecy is appropriate in specific circumstances,&amp;rdquo; it said.
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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Fourteen national and international non-government organisations and academic centres have called for reforms in what they say are excessively-broad exemptions granted to the government on national security issues by the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

To guide decision-making on information requests...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Fourteen national and international non-government organisations and academic centres have called for reforms in what they say are excessively-broad exemptions granted to the government on national security issues by the Right to Information (RTI) Act.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;To guide decision-making on information requests relating to national security, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), along with other groups, is in the process of formulating &amp;ldquo;guidelines&amp;rdquo; to bring about consensus on the extent of restrictions permissible on access to information.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;At a two-day national conference on &amp;ldquo;National Security and People&#039;s Right to Information in India&amp;rdquo; that concluded here on Monday, CHRI director Maja Daruwala highlighted how the bogey of national security was being used to withhold information by the authorities.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;In the context of the RTI Act, national security has not yet been clearly defined. The fluidity of the concept makes it very easy for the government to call in aid of non-disclosure that the information required comes under &amp;lsquo;national security&#039; and withhold the information or to enter into a long drawn battle, which very few have the capacity to continue engaging in.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Security defined&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The main argument was that before using national security as an excuse to exempt information from getting into public domain, the term needs to be defined by the democratic process of debate and discussion, she added.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Muzaffar Bhat, an RTI activist from Jammu and Kashmir, spoke about an instance which highlighted the tension between the government&#039;s desire to keep information secret on the ground of national security and the public&#039;s right to information. In November 2011, he filed an RTI in the Union Home Ministry, asking for the Interlocutor&#039;s Report on J&amp;amp;K. Even though he was denied the report by the Ministry on the pretext of national security in December, the report was made public on May 24.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Right abuses&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Venkatesh Nayak of the CHRI argued that &amp;ldquo;there have been lots of instances where the paramilitary forces have denied information related to human rights abuses and corruption using national security as an excuse, which needs to be stopped&amp;rdquo;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The draft of the guidelines being formulated by the NGOs says &amp;ldquo;access to information by enabling public scrutiny of government action not only safeguards against government abuse and abuse by government officials but also permits the public to play a role in determining the policies of the government.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;Since national security is a pre-condition for the full enjoyment of all human rights, including the right to information, some degree of secrecy is appropriate in specific circumstances,&amp;rdquo; it said.&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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Fourteen national and international non-government organisations and academic centres have called for reforms in what they say are excessively-broad exemptions granted to the government on national security issues by the Right to Information (RTI) Act.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
To guide decision-making on information requests relating to national security, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), along with other groups, is in the process of formulating &amp;ldquo;guidelines&amp;rdquo; to bring about consensus on the extent of restrictions permissible on access to information.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
At a two-day national conference on &amp;ldquo;National Security and People&#039;s Right to Information in India&amp;rdquo; that concluded here on Monday, CHRI director Maja Daruwala highlighted how the bogey of national security was being used to withhold information by the authorities.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;In the context of the RTI Act, national security has not yet been clearly defined. The fluidity of the concept makes it very easy for the government to call in aid of non-disclosure that the information required comes under &amp;lsquo;national security&#039; and withhold the information or to enter into a long drawn battle, which very few have the capacity to continue engaging in.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Security defined&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
The main argument was that before using national security as an excuse to exempt information from getting into public domain, the term needs to be defined by the democratic process of debate and discussion, she added.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Muzaffar Bhat, an RTI activist from Jammu and Kashmir, spoke about an instance which highlighted the tension between the government&#039;s desire to keep information secret on the ground of national security and the public&#039;s right to information. In November 2011, he filed an RTI in the Union Home Ministry, asking for the Interlocutor&#039;s Report on J&amp;amp;K. Even though he was denied the report by the Ministry on the pretext of national security in December, the report was made public on May 24.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Right abuses&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Venkatesh Nayak of the CHRI argued that &amp;ldquo;there have been lots of instances where the paramilitary forces have denied information related to human rights abuses and corruption using national security as an excuse, which needs to be stopped&amp;rdquo;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The draft of the guidelines being formulated by the NGOs says &amp;ldquo;access to information by enabling public scrutiny of government action not only safeguards against government abuse and abuse by government officials but also permits the public to play a role in determining the policies of the government.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;Since national security is a pre-condition for the full enjoyment of all human rights, including the right to information, some degree of secrecy is appropriate in specific circumstances,&amp;rdquo; it said.
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Fourteen national and international non-government organisations and academic centres have called for reforms in what they say are excessively-broad exemptions granted to the government on national security issues by the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

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                <strong>Balancing national security and right to information-Mohammad Ali</strong></h1>
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                <br /><div align="justify">Fourteen national and international non-government organisations and academic centres have called for reforms in what they say are excessively-broad exemptions granted to the government on national security issues by the Right to Information (RTI) Act.<br /><br />To guide decision-making on information requests relating to national security, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), along with other groups, is in the process of formulating &ldquo;guidelines&rdquo; to bring about consensus on the extent of restrictions permissible on access to information.<br /><br />At a two-day national conference on &ldquo;National Security and People's Right to Information in India&rdquo; that concluded here on Monday, CHRI director Maja Daruwala highlighted how the bogey of national security was being used to withhold information by the authorities.<br /><br />&ldquo;In the context of the RTI Act, national security has not yet been clearly defined. The fluidity of the concept makes it very easy for the government to call in aid of non-disclosure that the information required comes under &lsquo;national security' and withhold the information or to enter into a long drawn battle, which very few have the capacity to continue engaging in.&rdquo;<br /><br /><em>Security defined<br /></em><br />The main argument was that before using national security as an excuse to exempt information from getting into public domain, the term needs to be defined by the democratic process of debate and discussion, she added.<br /><br />Muzaffar Bhat, an RTI activist from Jammu and Kashmir, spoke about an instance which highlighted the tension between the government's desire to keep information secret on the ground of national security and the public's right to information. In November 2011, he filed an RTI in the Union Home Ministry, asking for the Interlocutor's Report on J&amp;K. Even though he was denied the report by the Ministry on the pretext of national security in December, the report was made public on May 24.<br /><br /><em>Right abuses<br /></em><br />Venkatesh Nayak of the CHRI argued that &ldquo;there have been lots of instances where the paramilitary forces have denied information related to human rights abuses and corruption using national security as an excuse, which needs to be stopped&rdquo;.<br /><br />The draft of the guidelines being formulated by the NGOs says &ldquo;access to information by enabling public scrutiny of government action not only safeguards against government abuse and abuse by government officials but also permits the public to play a role in determining the policies of the government.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Since national security is a pre-condition for the full enjoyment of all human rights, including the right to information, some degree of secrecy is appropriate in specific circumstances,&rdquo; it said.</div>               </font>
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    <link rel="canonical" href="https://im4change.in/<pre class="cake-error"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f49615bb3b3-trace').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f49615bb3b3-trace').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none');"><b>Notice</b> (8)</a>: Undefined variable: urlPrefix [<b>APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp</b>, line <b>8</b>]<div id="cakeErr67f49615bb3b3-trace" class="cake-stack-trace" style="display: none;"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f49615bb3b3-code').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f49615bb3b3-code').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Code</a> <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f49615bb3b3-context').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f49615bb3b3-context').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Context</a><pre id="cakeErr67f49615bb3b3-code" class="cake-code-dump" style="display: none;"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"></span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">head</span><span style="color: #007700">&gt;
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</span></span></code></pre><pre id="cakeErr67f49615bb3b3-context" class="cake-context" style="display: none;">$viewFile = &#039;/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp&#039;
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&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Fourteen national and international non-government organisations and academic centres have called for reforms in what they say are excessively-broad exemptions granted to the government on national security issues by the Right to Information (RTI) Act.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
To guide decision-making on information requests relating to national security, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), along with other groups, is in the process of formulating &amp;ldquo;guidelines&amp;rdquo; to bring about consensus on the extent of restrictions permissible on access to information.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
At a two-day national conference on &amp;ldquo;National Security and People&#039;s Right to Information in India&amp;rdquo; that concluded here on Monday, CHRI director Maja Daruwala highlighted how the bogey of national security was being used to withhold information by the authorities.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;In the context of the RTI Act, national security has not yet been clearly defined. The fluidity of the concept makes it very easy for the government to call in aid of non-disclosure that the information required comes under &amp;lsquo;national security&#039; and withhold the information or to enter into a long drawn battle, which very few have the capacity to continue engaging in.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Security defined&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
The main argument was that before using national security as an excuse to exempt information from getting into public domain, the term needs to be defined by the democratic process of debate and discussion, she added.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Muzaffar Bhat, an RTI activist from Jammu and Kashmir, spoke about an instance which highlighted the tension between the government&#039;s desire to keep information secret on the ground of national security and the public&#039;s right to information. In November 2011, he filed an RTI in the Union Home Ministry, asking for the Interlocutor&#039;s Report on J&amp;amp;K. Even though he was denied the report by the Ministry on the pretext of national security in December, the report was made public on May 24.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Right abuses&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Venkatesh Nayak of the CHRI argued that &amp;ldquo;there have been lots of instances where the paramilitary forces have denied information related to human rights abuses and corruption using national security as an excuse, which needs to be stopped&amp;rdquo;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;Since national security is a pre-condition for the full enjoyment of all human rights, including the right to information, some degree of secrecy is appropriate in specific circumstances,&amp;rdquo; it said.
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	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Fourteen national and international non-government organisations and academic centres have called for reforms in what they say are excessively-broad exemptions granted to the government on national security issues by the Right to Information (RTI) Act.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;To guide decision-making on information requests relating to national security, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), along with other groups, is in the process of formulating &amp;ldquo;guidelines&amp;rdquo; to bring about consensus on the extent of restrictions permissible on access to information.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;At a two-day national conference on &amp;ldquo;National Security and People&#039;s Right to Information in India&amp;rdquo; that concluded here on Monday, CHRI director Maja Daruwala highlighted how the bogey of national security was being used to withhold information by the authorities.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;In the context of the RTI Act, national security has not yet been clearly defined. The fluidity of the concept makes it very easy for the government to call in aid of non-disclosure that the information required comes under &amp;lsquo;national security&#039; and withhold the information or to enter into a long drawn battle, which very few have the capacity to continue engaging in.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Security defined&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The main argument was that before using national security as an excuse to exempt information from getting into public domain, the term needs to be defined by the democratic process of debate and discussion, she added.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Muzaffar Bhat, an RTI activist from Jammu and Kashmir, spoke about an instance which highlighted the tension between the government&#039;s desire to keep information secret on the ground of national security and the public&#039;s right to information. In November 2011, he filed an RTI in the Union Home Ministry, asking for the Interlocutor&#039;s Report on J&amp;amp;K. Even though he was denied the report by the Ministry on the pretext of national security in December, the report was made public on May 24.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Right abuses&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Venkatesh Nayak of the CHRI argued that &amp;ldquo;there have been lots of instances where the paramilitary forces have denied information related to human rights abuses and corruption using national security as an excuse, which needs to be stopped&amp;rdquo;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The draft of the guidelines being formulated by the NGOs says &amp;ldquo;access to information by enabling public scrutiny of government action not only safeguards against government abuse and abuse by government officials but also permits the public to play a role in determining the policies of the government.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;Since national security is a pre-condition for the full enjoyment of all human rights, including the right to information, some degree of secrecy is appropriate in specific circumstances,&amp;rdquo; it said.&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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Fourteen national and international non-government organisations and academic centres have called for reforms in what they say are excessively-broad exemptions granted to the government on national security issues by the Right to Information (RTI) Act.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
To guide decision-making on information requests relating to national security, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), along with other groups, is in the process of formulating &amp;ldquo;guidelines&amp;rdquo; to bring about consensus on the extent of restrictions permissible on access to information.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
At a two-day national conference on &amp;ldquo;National Security and People&#039;s Right to Information in India&amp;rdquo; that concluded here on Monday, CHRI director Maja Daruwala highlighted how the bogey of national security was being used to withhold information by the authorities.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;In the context of the RTI Act, national security has not yet been clearly defined. The fluidity of the concept makes it very easy for the government to call in aid of non-disclosure that the information required comes under &amp;lsquo;national security&#039; and withhold the information or to enter into a long drawn battle, which very few have the capacity to continue engaging in.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Security defined&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
The main argument was that before using national security as an excuse to exempt information from getting into public domain, the term needs to be defined by the democratic process of debate and discussion, she added.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Muzaffar Bhat, an RTI activist from Jammu and Kashmir, spoke about an instance which highlighted the tension between the government&#039;s desire to keep information secret on the ground of national security and the public&#039;s right to information. In November 2011, he filed an RTI in the Union Home Ministry, asking for the Interlocutor&#039;s Report on J&amp;amp;K. Even though he was denied the report by the Ministry on the pretext of national security in December, the report was made public on May 24.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Right abuses&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Venkatesh Nayak of the CHRI argued that &amp;ldquo;there have been lots of instances where the paramilitary forces have denied information related to human rights abuses and corruption using national security as an excuse, which needs to be stopped&amp;rdquo;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;br /&gt;
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Fourteen national and international non-government organisations and academic centres have called for reforms in what they say are excessively-broad exemptions granted to the government on national security issues by the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

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                <strong>Balancing national security and right to information-Mohammad Ali</strong></h1>
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                <br /><div align="justify">Fourteen national and international non-government organisations and academic centres have called for reforms in what they say are excessively-broad exemptions granted to the government on national security issues by the Right to Information (RTI) Act.<br /><br />To guide decision-making on information requests relating to national security, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), along with other groups, is in the process of formulating &ldquo;guidelines&rdquo; to bring about consensus on the extent of restrictions permissible on access to information.<br /><br />At a two-day national conference on &ldquo;National Security and People's Right to Information in India&rdquo; that concluded here on Monday, CHRI director Maja Daruwala highlighted how the bogey of national security was being used to withhold information by the authorities.<br /><br />&ldquo;In the context of the RTI Act, national security has not yet been clearly defined. The fluidity of the concept makes it very easy for the government to call in aid of non-disclosure that the information required comes under &lsquo;national security' and withhold the information or to enter into a long drawn battle, which very few have the capacity to continue engaging in.&rdquo;<br /><br /><em>Security defined<br /></em><br />The main argument was that before using national security as an excuse to exempt information from getting into public domain, the term needs to be defined by the democratic process of debate and discussion, she added.<br /><br />Muzaffar Bhat, an RTI activist from Jammu and Kashmir, spoke about an instance which highlighted the tension between the government's desire to keep information secret on the ground of national security and the public's right to information. In November 2011, he filed an RTI in the Union Home Ministry, asking for the Interlocutor's Report on J&amp;K. Even though he was denied the report by the Ministry on the pretext of national security in December, the report was made public on May 24.<br /><br /><em>Right abuses<br /></em><br />Venkatesh Nayak of the CHRI argued that &ldquo;there have been lots of instances where the paramilitary forces have denied information related to human rights abuses and corruption using national security as an excuse, which needs to be stopped&rdquo;.<br /><br />The draft of the guidelines being formulated by the NGOs says &ldquo;access to information by enabling public scrutiny of government action not only safeguards against government abuse and abuse by government officials but also permits the public to play a role in determining the policies of the government.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Since national security is a pre-condition for the full enjoyment of all human rights, including the right to information, some degree of secrecy is appropriate in specific circumstances,&rdquo; it said.</div>               </font>
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Fourteen national and international non-government organisations and academic centres have called for reforms in what they say are excessively-broad exemptions granted to the government on national security issues by the Right to Information (RTI) Act.<br />
<br />
To guide decision-making on information requests relating to national security, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), along with other groups, is in the process of formulating &ldquo;guidelines&rdquo; to bring about consensus on the extent of restrictions permissible on access to information.<br />
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At a two-day national conference on &ldquo;National Security and People's Right to Information in India&rdquo; that concluded here on Monday, CHRI director Maja Daruwala highlighted how the bogey of national security was being used to withhold information by the authorities.<br />
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Fourteen national and international non-government organisations and academic centres have called for reforms in what they say are excessively-broad exemptions granted to the government on national security issues by the Right to Information (RTI) Act.<br />
<br />
To guide decision-making on information requests relating to national security, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), along with other groups, is in the process of formulating &ldquo;guidelines&rdquo; to bring about consensus on the extent of restrictions permissible on access to information.<br />
<br />
At a two-day national conference on &ldquo;National Security and People's Right to Information in India&rdquo; that concluded here on Monday, CHRI director Maja Daruwala highlighted how the bogey of national security was being used to withhold information by the authorities.<br />
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The main argument was that before using national security as an excuse to exempt information from getting into public domain, the term needs to be defined by the democratic process of debate and discussion, she added.<br />
<br />
Muzaffar Bhat, an RTI activist from Jammu and Kashmir, spoke about an instance which highlighted the tension between the government's desire to keep information secret on the ground of national security and the public's right to information. In November 2011, he filed an RTI in the Union Home Ministry, asking for the Interlocutor's Report on J&amp;K. Even though he was denied the report by the Ministry on the pretext of national security in December, the report was made public on May 24.<br />
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<em>Right abuses<br />
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Venkatesh Nayak of the CHRI argued that &ldquo;there have been lots of instances where the paramilitary forces have denied information related to human rights abuses and corruption using national security as an excuse, which needs to be stopped&rdquo;.<br />
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Balancing national security and right to information-Mohammad Ali

Fourteen national and international non-government organisations and academic centres have called for reforms in what they say are excessively-broad exemptions granted to the government on national security issues by the Right to Information (RTI) Act. To guide decision-making on information requests relating to national security, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), along with other groups, is in the process of formulating “guidelines” to bring about consensus on the extent of restrictions permissible on access to information. At a two-day national conference on “National Security and People's Right to Information in India” that concluded here on Monday, CHRI director Maja Daruwala highlighted how the bogey of national security was being used to withhold information by the authorities. “In the context of the RTI Act, national security has not yet been clearly defined. The fluidity of the concept makes it very easy for the government to call in aid of non-disclosure that the information required comes under ‘national security' and withhold the information or to enter into a long drawn battle, which very few have the capacity to continue engaging in.” Security defined The main argument was that before using national security as an excuse to exempt information from getting into public domain, the term needs to be defined by the democratic process of debate and discussion, she added. Muzaffar Bhat, an RTI activist from Jammu and Kashmir, spoke about an instance which highlighted the tension between the government's desire to keep information secret on the ground of national security and the public's right to information. In November 2011, he filed an RTI in the Union Home Ministry, asking for the Interlocutor's Report on J&K. Even though he was denied the report by the Ministry on the pretext of national security in December, the report was made public on May 24. Right abuses Venkatesh Nayak of the CHRI argued that “there have been lots of instances where the paramilitary forces have denied information related to human rights abuses and corruption using national security as an excuse, which needs to be stopped”. The draft of the guidelines being formulated by the NGOs says “access to information by enabling public scrutiny of government action not only safeguards against government abuse and abuse by government officials but also permits the public to play a role in determining the policies of the government.” “Since national security is a pre-condition for the full enjoyment of all human rights, including the right to information, some degree of secrecy is appropriate in specific circumstances,” it said.