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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Fact Check: Do the new draft RTI rules differ from the existing Rules of 2012? -Shyamlal Yadav

Fact Check: Do the new draft RTI rules differ from the existing Rules of 2012? -Shyamlal Yadav

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published Published on Apr 7, 2017   modified Modified on Apr 7, 2017
-The Indian Express

Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu has rejected the Congress allegations, saying the proposed Rules regarding the word limit and application fees remain the same as they were under the UPA government.

On March 31, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the nodal department for the implementation of the Right to Information (RTI), put on its web site a circular titled “Framing RTI Rules, 2017 in supersession of RTI Rules, 2012”, and sought comments from the public until April 15.

On April 3, the Congress accused the government of attempting to subvert the RTI Act through the draft Rules. Senior leader Ahmed Patel questioned the government’s “intention”, and spokesperson Manish Tewari said that the draft Rules looked innocuous “but the devil lies in the detail”.

Specifically, Tewari said that the draft Rules had imposed a new word limit of 500 words on RTI applications, beyond which they could be rejected, and that the charges for replies had been raised steeply and photocopying charges had been doubled.

Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu has rejected the Congress allegations, saying the proposed Rules regarding the word limit and application fees remain the same as they were under the UPA government. He has described Tewari’s allegations as “a blatant lie and a malicious campaign”.

What was the need to scrap existing (2012) Rules and bring new ones?

Under Section 27 (1) of the RTI Act, 2005, “The appropriate Government [which could be either the central or a state government] may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make Rules to carry out the provisions of this Act.” Section 27 (2) says, “In particular…, such Rules may provide for all or any of the following matters”, which includes, under Section 27(2)(e), “the procedure to be adopted by the Central Information Commission or State Information Commission… in deciding the appeals”, and, under Section 27(2)(f), “Any other matter which… may be prescribed.”

These Rules were framed by DoPT in 2012. In the mean time, the Central Information Commission (CIC) had framed the CIC (Management) Regulations, 2007. These Regulations were, however, quashed by the Delhi High Court in 2010, which ruled that the CIC had no power to make Regulations.

But some High Courts, including Patna High Court, have approved the Regulations framed by their respective State Information Commissions. These Rules were framed under Section 12(4) of the RTI Act, which says: “The general superintendence, direction and management of the affairs of the Central Information Commission shall vest in the Chief Information Commissioner who shall be assisted by the Information Commissioners and may exercise all such powers and do all such acts and things which may be exercised or done by the Central Information Commission autonomously without being subjected to directions by any other authority under this Act.”

The CIC challenged the decision of Delhi High Court in the Supreme Court. The next hearing is on May 2. Before that, the government wants comprehensive new Rules, and has proposed the draft in question — seeking comments until April 15. These draft Rules are almost a merger of the CIC (Management) Regulations, 2007 and the RTI Rules, 2012, and seem aimed principally at reducing the number of appeals and complaints to the CIC. The government could finalise the Rules before it goes before the Supreme Court.

Please click here to read more.

The Indian Express, 7 April, 2017, http://indianexpress.com/article/explained/fact-check-do-the-new-draft-rti-rules-differ-from-the-existing-rules-of-2012-4602704/


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