The RTI Act was envisaged as a potent weapon to fight corruption by ushering in an age of transparency. Yet powerful men in power have ganged up to throttle the law through deliberate delays and by arm-twisting applicants. A comprehensive look at the law. Aweapon in the hands of people. That was how the Right to Information (RTI) Act was envisaged, almost six years back. But the bureaucracy, in connivance with...

It is now certain that the higher judiciary wouldn’t be under the purview of the proposed Lokpal. Consensus to this effect emerged at a roundtable held here in which members of the civil society, including four non-government members of the Lokpal Bill drafting committee, two former Chief Justices of India and many prominent citizens participated. Another important issue on which there was “near unanimity” at the meeting was the procedure for...

In a major shift from its earlier position, the law ministry has decided to lift the veil of secrecy on complaints received against judges of the Supreme Court and high courts if a complainant has no objection making his or her name public. The ministry’s decision to provide complaints of corruption and misconduct against the members of higher judiciary under the Right to Information (RTI) Act follows a direction from...

The first public consultation on the Lokpal Bill failed to reach a consensus on whether the office of the Prime Minister should be under the purview of the corruption watchdog but agreed that a different mechanism needed to be evolved for the judiciary in the nature of the National Judicial Commission. The day-long consultation at the India International Centre was attended by senior judicial officials of the country, top legal luminaries...

I am not unduly worried by the muck being hurled at non-government members of the government-notified drafting panel for the Lokpal Bill and recall the beginning of the village-based RTI movement in 1996 in Rajasthan. One of the ridiculous allegations against the agitation leaders was that they had received a hefty commission from a Japanese manufacturer of photocopiers who would profit hugely from the demand for photocopied panchayat documents if...