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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Exempting CBI from RTI counter-productive: Habibullah by Tanu Sharma

Exempting CBI from RTI counter-productive: Habibullah by Tanu Sharma

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published Published on Jun 21, 2011   modified Modified on Jun 21, 2011

Days after the government placed the CBI under the category of organisations “exempt” from the RTI Act, the country’s first Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah has “requested” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to let the Central agency remain within the ambit of the transparency Act as “public interest would best be served by keeping these bodies transparent and accountable within the limits of the law”.

However, the CBI has defended the move of taking the agency out of the purview of the RTI saying it investigates cases which have a great impact on the security of the state, including the financial security.

“Transparency in the functioning of the CBI within the limits prescribed by the law is the most desirable means for ensuring its accountability,” Habibullah, who heads the National Commission for Minorities, wrote in his letter to the PM. Terming the move to keep CBI out of RTI “counter productive” in the light of prevalent mood in the country against corruption, he said, “To the best of my memory, there has been no instance where there has been a grievous leakage of sensitive information disclosed to the detriment of the effectiveness or the performance of the CBI.”

The government following a decision of the Committee of Secretaries had put the CBI at No 23 in the second schedule of Section 24 of the RTI Act. According to Section 24, only “security” and “intelligence” agencies qualify for such exclusion, Habibullah claimed, arguing that the CBI, being the premier agency mandated to investigate allegations of corruption, “cannot be at any rate excluded under this sub-section”.

Justifying his argument against exclusion of the CBI from the RTI ambit, he said: “The CBI is not involved in collecting intelligence of any kind, nor does it perform any security-related duties unlike other law enforcement agencies.” He added that the CBI investigates serious economic frauds and crimes under the IPC, referred to it by the Centre or the state governments or by courts.

“The CBI does not fit the criterion laid down for organisations that may be exempted from the general obligation of transparency,” he explained.

However, CBI officials countered the argument, saying, “It is misplaced perception that the CBI does only investigation and prosecution-related work and is not involved in duties related to intelligence and security of the nation unlike other law-enforcement agencies.”

According to the CBI officials, the exemptions provided under Section 8 of the Act against disclosure of information relating to under-investigation and under-trial cases “are not adequate to safeguard the interests of the protection of information in cases pertaining to security of the country with which the CBI is involved”. However, Habibullah has said that “adequate safeguards” are provided under Section 8 of the RTI Act.

The Indian Express, 21 June, 2011, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Exempting-CBI-from-RTI-counter-productive--Habibullah/806518/


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