-: [rti4empowerment] WHY OPPOSE THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO RTI ACT

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

[rti4empowerment] WHY OPPOSE THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO RTI ACT

Dear Friends,

Please find below reasons to oppose the Proposed Private RTI Amendment Bill 2011...

Proposed Private RTI Amendment Bill 2011, is a back-door entry, taken by shadow & cunning elements of Political and Bureaucratic feild to weaken the RTI Act. A Shiv Sena Member of Parliament from Shirdi has introduced a Private Bill to amend the RTI Act. Its a very clever plan, as no political party is inserting this amendment and it is being done under the guise of Private Members Bill. The parliament can also circumvent the public anger by going for a Secret Ballot for voting the said Bill as then every political party can vote for the said Bill without any fear of Public backlash.

The said changes in the RTI Act can be understood better from the below table.

Present Position in RTI Act

Position after Amendment in RTI Act

An applicant making request for information shall not be required to give any reason for requesting that information

An applicant making request for information shall give reason for requesting that information

An applicant making request for information shall will not have to give any other personal details except those that may be necessary for contacting him

An applicant making request for information shall will have to give other personal details including those that may be necessary for contacting him

As per Sec-7& 8 of RTI Act, the PIO can only reject an RTI application for any of the reasons specified in sections 8 and 9:

As per New Amendment in Section 7& sec-8, the PIO can also reject RTI application under section 6(2) along with or Section 8 & 9.

As per the amendment in Sec-8, the PIO can reject any RTI request under a flimsy ground that reasons provided are "are not adequate or are factually incorrect in the opinion of the authority competent to furnish the Information."

As the validity of reason, has not been defined under RTI Act, the PIO can reject almost any RTI request by stating that he does not find the reason provided to be adequate. If this Amendment would have been brought 2years back, then it would have been next to impossible to unravel huge scams like 2G scam, Common wealth games, etc…

Hence, it is very important to fight against this amendment with all the support that we can muster.

RTI Act is our Fundamental Right

1. "Right to Information" was explicitly held to be a fundamental right under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of for the first time by Justice KK Mathew of Supreme Court in State of UP vs. Raj Narain, (1975) 4 SCC 428.

(Para 74/page 453 of the above order states & I quote)

"In a government of responsibility like ours, where all the agents of the public must be responsible for their conduct, there can be but few secrets. The people of this country have a right to know every public act, everything that is done in a public way, by their public functionaries. They are entitled to know the particulars of every public transaction in all its bearing. The right to know, which is derived from the concept of freedom of speech, though not absolute, is a factor which should make one wary, when secrecy is claimed for transactions which can, at any rate, have no repercussion on public security. To cover with veil of secrecy, he common routine business, is not in the interest of the public. Such secrecy can seldom be legitimately desired. It is generally desired for the purpose of parties and politics or personal self-interest or bureaucratic routine. The responsibility of officials to explain and to justify their acts is the chief safeguard against oppression and corruption."

2. In the case of S.P. Gupta Vs Union of India [1981 (Supp) SCC 87], a seven-Judge Constitution Bench of Supreme Court also upheld the "Right to Information" as a fundamental right under Article 19(1)(a).

(Page 275/para 67 of the above order states & I quote)

"The concept of an open government is the direct emanation from the Right to Know which seems to be implicit in the Right of Free Speech and Expression guaranteed under Article 19 (1) (a). Therefore, disclosure of information in regard to the functioning of the government must be the rule and secrecy an exception justified only where the strictest requirement of public interest so demands. The approach of the courts must be to attenuate the area of secrecy as much as possible consistently with the requirement of public interest, bearing in mind all the time the disclosure also serves an important aspect of public interest".

Hence, the said Amendment is a violation of our fundamental right under Article 19 (1) (a) as it places restriction on it, by asking us to provide reasons.

My view: Prime Minister and his colleagues in Cabinet think that RTI affects the efficiency of Government, but in reality it has only highlighted the inefficiency of Government and it should look to it as a pointer to bring changes and not attempt to change the RTI Act itself.

WANT TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT

Well, then start collecting signatures and mail it to the Prime Minister & the National Advisory Chariman - Smt. Sonia Gandhi along with the letter format drafted by Krishnaraj Rao

(DOWNLOAD LETTER)

Thanks & Regards

Prashant Uikey

Founder - "IT'S MY RIGHT" Forum: CLICK TO JOIN

Striving For Protection & Successful Implementation Of Citizen's Rights