The Central Information Commission decides to appeal against a judgment of the Delhi High Court that threatens to disrupt its smooth functioning. SHAILESH GANDHI, a Central Information Commissioner, recently said the Right to Information (RTI) Act faced a serious threat from the government and the judiciary. His warning came in the context of the woefully inadequate government-sanctioned resources and the number of stay orders issued by High Courts on the...

Conflicting replies from the government relating to the 6 Krishna Menon Marg bungalow has deepened the mystery around the house. Two departments of the urban development ministry seem to have contrasting views on the issue with the Directorate of Estates saying the bungalow, which was allotted to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar during her tenure as a minister in UPA-1, is yet to be allotted to someone, while CPWD has...

The Central Information Commission (CIC) on Monday directed the Prime Minister's Office to declare Union Ministers' assets after getting the nod from the Rajya Sabha Chairman and the Lok Sabha Speaker, and said the opinion of the heads of both Houses will be applicable to all future Right to Information queries seeking such information. Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah passed the order while hearing a petition from RTI activist Subhash Agarwal,...

For two decades the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) has taken the Right to Information Act to the grassroots. KAVERI GILL was witness to a mela that celebrated its 20th anniversary at Bhim, Rajasthan.  The occasion was no political party rally, nor was there any promise of handouts by the state, dangling a carrot or wielding a stick to elicit attendance On Labour Day, a maidan in Bhim, District Rajsamand,...

The RTI juggernaut has begun to roll over Indian babudom. Let us not turn the clock back. Over the past week, there have been reports that the Prime Minister's Office, responding to Sonia Gandhi's muscular intervention, is backing off on the dreaded amendments to the Right to Information Act, 2005. On the other hand, it is worth remembering that the amendments scare has never been too far away. It resurfaced as recently...