-IANS Attempts to push for poll reforms are yet to yield the desired results despite an appeal by the Election Commission to the government, a Right to Information (RTI) query filed by an activist has revealed. A response from the prime minister's office (PMO) to an RTI query indicated that little had been done on barring candidates with criminal records from contesting elections, ensuring financial transparency and making public the audited accounts...

A public body cannot refuse information concerning appointment of employees under the RTI Act on the pretext that it is personal, third party information which is exempt under the RTI Act, the Central Information Commission has held.  Information Commissioner Sushma Singh said that all the information on appointments made by public authorities would be covered under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The transparency panel was hearing an appeal filed by...

-The Times of India GURGAON: A local RTI Activist, O P Kataria, who has been actively campaigning againstGurgaon MLA Sukhbir Kataria, has accused the latter of harassing him. The MLA is clouded by a controversy over alleged fake voter ID cards in the last assembly elections. According to O P Kataria, about 10 policemen barged into his house on Tuesday morning and tried to fraudulently implicate his wife in a land case. "These...

-The Hindu They are both statutory forums that redress the grievances of people but have been placed at the loggerheads following a verdict by a city consumer court. The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Chennai, (South) has held the Public Information Officer of the Tamil Nadu State Information Commission liable for “deficiency of service”. The consumer forum ordered the public information officer to pay compensation of Rs.5,000 to an applicant, holding that...

-The Deccan Herald The Central Information Commission (CIC) has stated that a citizen’s right to information would get primacy over an individual’s right to privacy, adding weight to the principle of transparency. In an important decision, the transparency panel said though the state had no right to invade the privacy of an individual but in extraordinary circumstances, where the government sought information from citizens, details could be given out under the Right...