Even as the state tries to provide a corruption-free government with the Lokseva Guarantee Bill, a similar venture by it earlier has fallen by the wayside. With no chief information commissioner (CIC) in the state for the past five months the much-trumpeted Right To Information (RTI) Act, which aims to bring in transparency, has almost become defunct. Incidentally, Rajasthan had taken the first steps in bringing this law in the...

ON August 3, the Chief Information Commissioner, Satyananda Mishra, delivered two important decisions directing the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of the Supreme Court to answer certain questions about the functioning of the court to information-seekers in the manner they have sought it. In the first case, Commodore Lokesh K. Batra (Retd) vs CPIO, Supreme Court of India, the appellant had sought details about those cases pending in the Supreme Court...

In the unseen and unheard margins of Team Anna’s Ramlila Surge, there’s a growing sense of disquiet —especially among minority and marginalised groups. Despite carefully choreographed images of Muslim children publicly breaking their Ramzaan fast with Anna Hazare, prominent Dalit, Muslim and Christian leaders are deeply suspicious of the faces on display and the voices emanating from the crowds. They argue that Anna’s ends — fighting corruption — is undoubtedly justified, they...

Central information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi has put forth a compelling argument for placing public-private partnerships (PPPs) under the ambit of the Right to information (RTI) Act in an order passed earlier this week. Though the order pertains to a specific case in Delhi, it will have far reaching implications for the rest of the country. The Central Information Commission (CIC) recognizes PPPs as public bodies that must provide information under the...

-The Times of India   The Central Information Commission (CIC) has rejected objections raised by the Supreme Court directing it to disclose details of medical reimbursement of judges in the last three years and the rules relating to appointment of retired judges as arbitrators. Clubbing together three RTI applications of activist S C Agrawal, the commission also directed the apex court to disclose the list of all resolutions passed by meetings...