The Pune bench of the State Information Commissioner (SIC) has been witnessing a deluge of second appeals. A majority of these appeals, interestingly, have been filed by only a handful of people. Since the establishment of the Pune bench of the SIC in February 2007, 938 second appeals have been filed by 97 individuals. RTI activists claim this habit of filing multiple appeals is a major cause for the rise in pendency...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Where no sunlight goes by Nikhil Dey, Aruna Roy
If actions speak louder than words, then the government has just spoken loud and clear. There could be no stronger indication of the government’s lack of serious intent in building an effective anti-corruption regime than the decision to remove the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) law. Without any discussion in the public domain, the government has decided to use Section 24 of...
More »Poles apart by V Venkatesan
The Joint Lokpal Bill Drafting Committee concludes its meetings without any agreement on major issues. ON June 21, as the five government representatives and the five civil society members of the Joint Lokpal Bill Drafting Committee ended their deliberations after exchanging their versions of the draft Lokpal Bill, the battle lines were clearly drawn. The government was in no mood to agree with the civil society members led by Anna...
More »Why should CBI be out of RTI, Madras HC asks Union govt
-The Indian Express The Madras High Court today issued a notice to the Union government on a PIL seeking to declare a recent notification exempting Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from the purview of Right to Information Act as ultra vires or 'beyond the powers' of the Constitution. A Bench comprising Chief Justice M Y Eqbal and Justice T S Sivagnanam directed Additional Solicitor General M Ravindran, who took the notice...
More »Finance min asked to probe assets of former CJI
-The Times of India The home ministry has asked the finance ministry to conduct a probe into the assets of former Chief Justice of India, K G Balakrishnan, in what could possibly lead to action against him for allegedly possessing wealth disproportionate to his income. Sources said the ministry has written to the revenue secretary, asking him to institute an inquiry through the Central Board of Direct Taxes. "The inquiry would be...
More »