Bring vigilance department back into RTI ambit: UP RTI activists
The memorandum states that the issuance of the said notification by
the state government of Uttar Pradesh while invoking the provisions of
section 24 ( 4 ) of the RTI act is illegal & unconstitutional.
CJ: urvashi sharma Sat, Oct 16, 2010 16:42:18 IST
UTTAR PRADESH RTI activists have come together and have raised the
demand of scrapping the Notification no. 2339/39-4-2010-21/05, dated
22 September 2010 issued by Satarkta Anubhag – 4 of Uttar Pradesh
Government. A five member delegation is going to meet the Governor,
Chief Minister and Chief Information Commissioner of Uttar Pradesh in
person for detailed discussions on the matter.
The memorandum states that the issuance of the said notification by
the state government of Uttar Pradesh while invoking the provisions of
section 24 ( 4 ) of the RTI act is illegal & unconstitutional. The
Memorandum further says that the reasons as stated by the Government
for the need of the said notification are too childish to rely on by
the masses and raise doubts about the intentions of the Government
vis-à-vis establishing the fair RTI regime in the state.
The provisions of the notification already existed in Section 8 ( 1 )
( h ) of The RTI Act 2005 , which empowers any CPIO / PIO to deny any
citizen the information which would impede the process of any
investigation or apprehension or prosecution of any of the offenders.
As the very same provisions already existed, there was no need to make
duplicity of provisions as it strengthens the belief of malafide
intent of the Government about fair implementation of the Act in State
in the minds of the masses, says the memorandum.
The memorandum emphasises that Section 24(4) can apply to
"intelligence and security organization "only and that Vigilance
department primarily deals with issues of corruptions & does not
completely qualify for consideration under section 24(4) and thus the
state Government's move is ab initio void and needs to be scrapped.
One interesting plea given in memorandum states that since
Notification for 3-tier UP Panchayat elections was issued on 16th
September 2010 and With issuance of this notification, the modal Code
of Conduct was enforced in the state with immediate effect so Under
such circumstances issuance of Notification no. 2339/39-4-2010-21/05
on 22 September 2010 by Uttar Pradesh government goes against model
code of conduct and is untenable in the eye of law so this
notification needs to be scrapped .
The memorandum lays emphasis on the paramount ideal of the RTI Act
which is the transparency of operations of public authority and states
that there is difference in the terminology relating to intelligence
and security organizations. As the vigilance primarily deals with
corruption and is marginally involved in intelligence and security
activities . So even without this notification, the PIO is at liberty
to deny the portion of information relating to intelligence and
security and can be severed in terms of Section 10 of the RTI Act and
the information regarding corruption alone can be made available.
Hence there is no need for this notification, says the memorandum.
The memorandum lays emphasis on the fact that the said Notification
adversely affects the fundamental rights envisaged under Article
19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India for freedom of speech and
expression and sets a very bad precedence for the future of RTI regime
in the state.
The demands raised by this memorandum include scrapping the
notification no. 2339/39-4-2010-21/05, dated 22 September 2010 and to
provide time to meet a five member delegation of RTI activists in the
larger interest of the society and the state.
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Urvashi Sharma
RTI Helpmail( Web Based )
aishwaryaj2010@gmail.com
Mobile Rti Helpline
8081898081 ( 8 A.M. to 10 P.M. )
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