Times of India: Thiruvananthapuram: Monday,
January 30, 2017.
Alleging that
the vigilance department has denied information sought under Right to
Information (RTI) Act, a social activist has approached the state human rights
commission.
According to
the complainant P K Raju, the information officer of the vigilance department
has not replied to the application submitted by him even after 55 days.
"When I approached the information officer he said that the previous
government had issued an order stating that it was not necessary to provide the
details under RTI from the vigilance department as it comes under the top
secret category,'' said Raju.
The
petitioner had sought the details of the action taken by the vigilance against
former scheduled caste and scheduled tribe minister P K Jayalekhsmi.
The UDF
government had passed the order, which invited severe criticism from the
CPM-led opposition. However, even after the LDF government came to power, the
order was not reversed.The then opposition leader V S Achuthanandan had come
out strongly against the decision of the UDF government when he was denied
information by the vigilance department.
Raju had
filed a complaint with the vigilance on November 2016 with details pertaining
to misappropriation of fund under the department of the former minister.
"However
there was no development after the complaint was registered. The vigilance is
not ready to provide the details regarding the status of the complaint or any
follow ups on the same. I want to know whether the department filed any FIR or
launched any preliminary inquiry into the complaint,'' he said.
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