Lokayukta Should remain within the ambit of RTI Act : Urvashi Sharma

http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/12737053-lokayukta-should-remain-within-the-ambit-of-rti-act-urvashi-sharma

UPCPRI ( Uttar Pradesh Campaign to Protect RTI ), Voice of majority of
RTI Activists of Uttar Pradesh ,the RTI wing of YAISHWARYAJ Seva
Sansthan, a Lucknow based NGO organized a meeting of RTI activists in
the state capital on Tuesday.

Noted Social Activist Usha Sharma,Prabhuta Mishra,Babita Singh,Vishnu
Datt Mishra and RTI activists, comprising lawyers, professors,
engineers, retired government officials and others, took part in the
meeting.Urvashi Sharma, Coordinator of UPCPRI chaired the meeting.

Inaugurating the meeting,Urvashi Sharma said that it seems that the
State of Uttar Pradesh has been baffled by the use of the right to
information in
unearthing corruption in every walk of life so it has once again
bitten back, thereby weakening the seven-year old regime of RTI. The
Samajwadi Party-led Government in Uttar Pradesh (UP) has launched the
latest battle against the transparency law by keeping UP Lokayukta out
of RTI ambit.

Prabhuta Mishra said that as we all know that on July 31,2012 Uttar
Pradesh Cabinet decided to notify the Lokayukta as an exempt
organization under Section 24(4) of the Right to Information Act (RTI
Act) and put it in second schedule .She added that the cabinet
decision is contrary to government's promise to strengthen the
Lokayukta . In its election manifesto, Samajwadi Party had promised to
take steps to strengthen the office of the Lokayukta, but instead of
making it more transparent, the government first increased the tenure
of the Lokayukta to eight years, then it authorized the
Lokayukta to penalize persons who level frivolous charges against any
public servant. Now, with the cabinet approving a proposal to keep the
Lokayukta outside the ambit of the RTI Act, We, the Activists have
every reason to doubt about further dilution and politicization of the
Lokayukta organization.
She further added that the government has done nothing to make
Lokayukta office a multi-member body, bring the economic offences wing
of the police
under the Lokayukta Act and bringing the Chief Minister's office
under the Lokayukta's ambit.


Activist Usha Sharma said that Section 24(4) of RTI act permits the
exemption of only security and intelligence organizations. For an
organization to qualify for this exemption it must perform either of
the functions of providing security-related services or be responsible
for gathering
intelligence and also this should be the primary functions of the
organization. The Lokayukta is neither a security nor an intelligence
organization. It
is primarily a body vested with powers to conduct enquiries and
investigations into allegations of corruption leveled against
public servants. The Lokayukta simply does not qualify for
exemption under Section 24(4). The UP Cabinet decision amounts to a
misinterpretation of the RTI Act. Section 24(4) of the RTI Act
empowers the State Governments to notify in the Official Gazette
security and intelligence organizations that will be exempted from
ordinary obligations of transparency and information disclosure unlike
other public authorities. Once notified, such bodies will be liable
only to provide information about
allegations of corruption and human rights violation to a info-seeker.
Information about allegations of human rights violation will be
provided only with the concurrence of the State Information Commission
and within forty five days. The State Government has an obligation to
table the list of organizations notified in this manner in the
Legislative Assembly. Lokayukta does not qualify for the Section 24(4)
exemption, which applies only to security and intelligence
organizations. RTI Act exemptions already protect against the
disclosure of investigatory
materials. There is no reason to take anti-corruption bodies away from
RTI.

"The UP government's decision to keep the office of Lokayukta outside
the RTI Act was not at all needed as RTI Act itself provides
protection to the provisions of the UP Lokayukta Act 1975. UP
Lokayukta office was free not to provide information about the
ongoing investigation under the Right to Information Act also.
Section 8(1)(g) and 8(1)(h) of RTI act takes proper care of section
10 and section 15 of the Lokayukta Act. The section 10 of the UP
Lokayukta Act states that Investigation to be conducted by the
Lokayukta or his deputy should be conducted in private, and in
particular, the identity of the complainant and of the public servant
affected by the investigation should not be disclosed to the public or
the press whether before, during or after the investigation. The
Section 15 of the Act states that any information or any evidence
obtained by the Lokayukta office in the course of investigation should
be confidential. keeping UP Lokayukta out of RTI ambit is one of the
many attacks being launched against the transparency regime by the
very system which the RTI Act seeks to reform" said Vishnu Datt
Mishra.


"UP Government's decision is a clear violation of the United Nations
Convention Against Corruption which India ratified last year. Article
5(1) of the UNCA requires Indian Governments to develop and implement
an anti-corruption mechanism that is primarily informed by
transparency. The exemptions under Section 24(4) are not absolute as
information about allegations of corruption and human rights cannot be
denied even by an exempt organization.
Right to information is a part and parcel of the Right to Freedom of
Speech and Expression as contained in Article 19(1)(g) of the
Constitution. 'The RTI Act' gives statutory safeguard to the Freedom
of Speech and Expression guaranteed under Article 19(1)(g), which
cannot be curtailed except with reasonable
restrictions provided under Article 19(2) of the Constitution, in the
interest of sovereignty and integrity of India, security of the State,
friendly relations with foreign State, public order, decency or
morality or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement
to an offence only and the functions performed by the Lokayukta does
not fall in any of the categories enumerated under Article 19(2) of
the Constitution. The reasonable restrictions as envisaged under
Article 19(2) of the Constitution cannot be imposed by executive
action and can only be
done by duly enacted law. Therefore, the restriction imposed are
excessive and beyond the powers of the State, which cannot be done by
issuance of notifications" Urvashi Sharma told the audience.
A unanimous resolution was passed to send memorandum to Chief Minister
Akhilesh Yadav and also to legislators representing constituencies of
Uttar Pradesh , seeking withdrawal of the decision to exempt the UP
Lokayukta from the RTI Act.
"If need be, YAISHWARYAJ Seva Sansthaan shall adopt the PIL route to
bring the Lokayukta back within the ambit of the RTI Act" Urvashi
Sharma announced.



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