A recent order by the Central Information Commissioner (CIC) might bring some relief to people from the economically weaker sections of society, as well as to activists working for such causes. In an order dated September 17, Central Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi ordered the directorate of health services, government of Delhi, to put up details of the beneficiaries from the economically weaker section (EWS) of society, who are supposed to get...

Next month, the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, one of the most powerful laws enacted in independent India, completes half a decade in the cause of transparent and accountable administration. It enables, on demand, access to information the State and Central governments have in their possession. It empowers Indian citizens to ask for and get specific information, subject to certain norms, from a Public Authority, “thus making its functionaries...

Wajahat Habibullah, India’s chief information commissioner, has a towering task. He sees to it that the government gives its citizens information they ask for under the 2005 Right to Information Act, a position that effectively makes him an umpire astride India’s mighty bureaucracy and messy democracy. He is retiring later this month after five years in office—that’s how long the RTI law, which allows citizens to demand official documents, has been...

In an apparent reference to former Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) Pratyush Sinha’s recent comment regarding his “thankless” job, Union Law and Justice Minister M Veerappa Moily on Monday said senior officers weren’t expected to make such statements. Sinha had observed at an interview last week that the worst part of his “thankless” job was observing how corruption had increased as people became more materialistic. “I don’t want to name anyone, he...

KEY TRENDS   • Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act 1989, National Highways Act 1956 and Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978, from its purview, has been amended for payment of compensation with rigours $ • The amendments have now...