The Hindu: Mumbai: Friday, October 24, 2014.
They have
appealed to the Maharashtra Chief Information Commissioner to nullify the
notification issued by the erstwhile government as it was in violation of the
RTI Act.
In a
controversial move that has come into the public domain three days ago, the
General Administration Department (GAD) under the charge of the then Chief
Minister, Prithviraj Chavan, had issued a notification exempting the
Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) from the purview of the RTI.
The
notification, made just six days before the model code of conduct came into
force, has drawn flak from the RTI activists as the anti-corruption body was
awaiting sanction from the government to commence an open inquiry against
former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and another senior NCP leader Sunil
Tatkare in the alleged multi-crore irrigation scam.
What has
shocked the activists and the political activists is that though the
notification was made on September 6, it was put up on the website of the ACB
only last week.
The
notification unless withdrawn would save many newly nominated MLAs who defected
from the NCP and joined the BJP, including former NCP strongman Vijay Kumar
Gavit.
Speaking to
The Hindu, former Information Commissioner with the Central Information
Commissioner and prominent RTI activist Shailesh Gandhi said that the move was
illegal. Mr. Gandhi plans to take up the issue with the State Information
Commission.
“The former
government has cited the provision under Section 24 of the Act to grant
exemption to the ACB but the exemption under the said provision is only for the
purpose of internal security and sensitive information shared by Intelligence
agencies. The ACB on the other hand only deals with matters of corruption,” he
said.
“Also the
preamble of the Act speaks about curbing corruption, so such a move is against
the very basis of the Act,” added Mr. Gandhi.
Anil Galgali,
another prominent RTI activist wondered whether the new government would
reverse it. “With many of the NCP politicians having moved to the BJP and the
party showing its willingness to render outside support I think even the BJP
government would not do much about it.”
Pune-based
RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar told The Hindu, “The terse, four-line notice was
stealthily put up on an obscure corner of the ACB website. It was not even
there on the official State government website, as it should be. I stumbled on
it more than a month after it was issued during a follow-up with the ACB
concerning scam-tainted bureaucrats,” he said.
According to
Mr. Velankar, there should have been a public consensus on the notification
which in turn should have been ratified by the State Legislature.
City-based
activists have appealed to the Maharashtra Chief Information Commissioner to
nullify the government notification, as it was issued in violation of the RTI
Act.