In a landmark order, the state chief information commissioner told an applicant to pay for information that should have been given to him free of cost. Provisions of the Right to Information (RTI) Act mention that an applicant cannot be charged for information if it is not provided within 30 days if there is no valid explanation given for the delay. An applicant also cannot be charged if he is not...
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Govt guilty of fraud if land acquired for public purpose is given to pvt firms: SC
-The Indian Express The Supreme Court has said that it amounts to “fraud” on the part of the government to forcibly acquire land under the guise of a public purpose, only to have the property transferred to real estate developers or companies for their use. A Bench of Justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhyaya held that the State cannot use its power to compulsorily purchase or acquire land of a...
More »Neoliberal Plan by Venkitesh Ramakrishnan
The Planning Commission's Approach Paper to the Twelfth Plan sticks with the neoliberal agenda despite claims of inclusive growth. INCLUSIVE was one word that came up time and again in the early announcements of the Planning Commission on the Twelfth Five-Year Plan. “Faster, Sustainable and More Inclusive Growth” was the slogan coined for the Plan and there was the promise of widespread consultations as never before as part of the processes...
More »Information sought by whistle-blowers, since killed, to be made public by Vidya Subrahmaniam
All pending information sought by a Right to Information (RTI) activist, who has subsequently been murdered, will henceforth be placed in the public domain. This decision was taken by the Central Information Commission (CIC), which has been under pressure to do its bit to stem the mounting casualties of RTI activists and applicants. The nature of information sought, the CIC believes, will reveal the motive for the murder. In a resolution...
More »From name to jail term for false complaints, Centre mulls changes in whistleblowers Bill by Maneesh Chhibber
Even as the Centre is set to junk most of the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Whistleblowers Bill, the government has proposed that the penalty for frivolous or malafide complaints in the proposed Bill would be a jail term up to one year and/or a fine up to Rs 30,000. Also, the Centre says that it would be for the trial court to decide on the quantum...
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