Free Press Journal: Bhopal: Tuesday, August 01, 2017.
Now the state
government can no longer keep the CM’s meetings confidential, especially with
home minister, chief secretary, director general of police (DGP), principal
secretary (PS) of home affairs and director general (DG) of special task force
(STF). The department of general administration (GAD) will have to make the
details of these meetings public, under Right to Information (RTI) Act.
Information
commissioner Heeralal Trivedi also instructed GAD to provide information
related to three other matters, under RTI. He instructed to provide details of
proceedings and action taken by the committees of senior secretaries in the
cases they received from agencies which investigated corruption including CBI,
Lokayukta, EOW or chief technical examiner.
GAD will also
have to show the details of files which approved the purchase of electronic
voting machines (EVMs) and the file which comprised details related to the
extension of tenure of Lokayukta. Bhopal-based RTI activist Ajay Dube had
sought information from GAD over these points but the department refused,
citing public welfare as reason.
Dube then
filed an appeal with the information commission after which the aforesaid
instructions were issued. Trivedi also mentioned that the public information
officer had failed to cite the sub-section under which he couldn’t provide this
information. Trivedi’s order further said there were no such restrictions in
providing these details except the ones related to security of the state.
There should
not be any complication in providing the details of those meetings of
committees which were organised for perusal of cases on which anti-corruption
agencies were working. The meetings should rather be advertised, stated the
order.
Trivedi also
said concealing details like EVM purchase and tenure extension of Lokayukta
would send a wrong message in society. Now, the order is likely to unearth
details of the meetings post January 1, 2014 including that with the home
department in which STF had also participated.
STF was the
investigating agency before CBI took over Vyapam probe and with the fresh order
the decisions made during meetings before the HC started its monitoring can
reveal many things.
ADDING TO
WORRIES
EVM purchase
and Lokayukta tenure extension details to be made public
Vyapam
related discussion between CM and STF too to be made public
State security
issue apart, there is no restriction in providing details, said information
commissioner
Bhopal-based
RTI activist Ajay Dube had filed plaint with info commissioner
Plaint filed
after GAD denied reply to RTI query filed by Dube.
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