Government seems disrespectful in treating October meeting as a non-event: Shailesh Gandhi  At meeting, majority of 60-odd Commissioners vetoed amendments proposed by DoPT Meeting concluded on understanding that DoPT would forward minutes to the Commissioners The minutes of the stormy October 14, 2009 meeting between Central and State Information Commissioners and the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on the controversial issue of amendments to the Right To Information Act, 2005 are...

Calls for inspection of files on India-Pakistan statement issued at Sharm-el-Sheikh  The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) finds itself in a spot with the Central Information Commission (CIC) calling for the inspection of files related to the India-Pakistan joint statement issued on the sidelines of last year’s Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit at Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt. With India having a history of not permitting access to any foreign office file, no matter...

The ministry of personnel has shown a surprising lack of alacrity in prosecuting errant babus In August last year, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was keynote speaker at the annual meeting of India’s premier anti-corruption agency, the CBI. There, addressing officers of the agency and state vigilance bureaus, he made a telling remark, “Our anti-corruption agencies must make the cost of corruption unacceptably high for those indulging in this evil practice.” The prime...

Are income-tax returns filed by individual citizens open to public scrutiny under the Right to Information? Yes, says the Central Information Commission. In a controversial December 14 ruling with far-reaching implications, the CIC held that individual assessees could not invoke privacy concerns to prevent an unrelated “third party” from inspecting returns filed with the Income-Tax Department. Sources in the Commission said the ruling must be seen as a trendsetter that could...

Ironically, the Right to Information (RTI) Act is being used to unseat Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) Wajahat Habibullah himself.    Using documents got using the Act, Mumbai-based RTI activist Girish Mittal on Monday served a legal notice on the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and the Ministry of Personnel & Grievances (DoPT) saying that Habibullah, whose resignation is still hanging fire, is being accorded preferential treatment and that he should be relieved...