It took years of struggle, harassment, sweat and courage to get the Right to Information Act (2005) in place. Now, it looks like the government is hell bent on frustrating the purpose of this legislation. Yesterday, the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly secretariat notified new rules that bar the transfer of applications to multiple authorities, limit the subjects and seeks additional fees for first appeals under the Right to Information (RTI) Act....
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Govt may bring corporate lobbying under RTI
A day after stating that lobbying and public relations were part of a democratic set-up, corporate affairs minister Salman Khurshid said the government might explore whether corporate lobbying could be included under the Right to Information (RTI) Act or a similar law. “It is a democratic right of people, but there should be a legitimate limit on this. No one said that lobbying is illegal, but it should not go beyond...
More »Choice challenged by V Venkatesan
The appointment of P.J. Thomas as the Central Vigilance Commissioner comes under Supreme Court scrutiny.ON November 8, a Supreme Court Bench comprising Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia and Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and Swatanter Kumar asked the Attorney-General, G.E. Vahanvati, whether Central Vigilance Commissioner P.J. Thomas was an “outstanding civil servant” as required by the Central Vigilance Commission Act.The Bench was yet to get a firm reply to the question on December...
More »National Advisory Council to examine new RTI draft rules by Nidhi Sharma
National Advisory Council (NAC) will examine threadbare the new draft rules framed for Right to Information Act , which make it mandatory for applicants to file questions in 250 words and pay for hiring photocopy machine used to provide information. NAC’s sub-group on transparency and accountability, headed by social activist Aruna Roy, would discuss the draft rules in its meeting on Monday. The draft rules for RTI Act have been framed...
More »Babus fined Rs 1 for blocking information by Sanjeev Devasia
What do you think should be the fine for information officers denying information to citizens? Re 1, nothing more or less, according to a state information commissioner.An RTI response sought by activist Vihar Durve in June 2010 revealed that Konkan Information Commissioner Navin Kumar imposed a penalty of Re 1 in two cases of appeals between 2005 and 2008 for stalling information.The first, imposed on July 5, 2008, was meant...
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