Subterfuge is the favourite tool of the corrupt, when caught. That seems to be the case as the Union ministry of commerce and industry proceeds at an elephantine pace in its “inquiry” into the Rs 2,500-crore rice export scam reported in Outlook. Last year, on July 30, Parliament erupted in a furore over the revelation that despite a strict ban on exports, tonnes of 25 per cent broken, non-Basmati rice...
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European Commission honour for India Today journalist
An India Today report based on the Right to Information Act by Associate Editor Shyamlal Yadav is among the winning entries for the 2010 Lorenzo Natali Prize (LNP)-2010, an annual competition open to journalists worldwide. The report was among the 17 best entries (three from each continent and two special prizes) from over 1,100 nominations worldwide. Awarded by the European Commission, the LNP is supported by Reporters Without Borders and WAN IFRA...
More »Widening horizons by V Venkatesan
The outgoing CIC interprets the RTI Act in a liberal spirit to direct the Calcutta High Court to provide information to an applicant. IN a landmark decision before he completed his term as Chief Information Commissioner on September 30, Wajahat Habibullah rejected the Calcutta High Court's contention that it was not subject to the CIC's jurisdiction under the Right to Information Act, 2005. The Calcutta High Court has the distinction of...
More »Activists lament courts going soft on RTI offenders
The trend of government officials approaching the High Court against the Central Information Commission's (CIC) decision imposing fines on PIOs for delay in information to applicants under the RTI Act has started a debate amongst the RTI activists. Activists said very few information commissioners have levied monetary fine on the Public Information Officers (PIOs), who do not comply with the provisions of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. And now the...
More »Six information officers fined for delaying RTI reply by Ashutosh Shukla
City-based Right to Information activist (RTI) Shailesh Gandhi, in his capacity as a Central Information Commissioner, recently passed a landmark order under the RTI Act. In an order dated October 22, he fined six public information officers (PIOs) of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) Rs25,000 each, the highest penalty amount allowed under the Act. The total fine comes to Rs1.5 lakh, which is the highest penalty levied for a single...
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