Times of India:Friday , August 26 , 2011.
CHENNAI: The legal verdict on the Centre's move to exempt the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from the RTI Act will be out soon.
The first bench of the Madras high court, comprising Chief Justice M Y Eqbal and Justice T S Sivagnanam, reserved orders on the matter on Wednesday.
A petition, filed by advocate S Vijayalakshmi, said the Centre had issued a "covert notification" on June 9 to keep the CBI beyond the ambit of the Act.
Advocate Manikandan Vathan Chettiar, who represented the petitioner, said the Centre's actions were "so blatant" that even 11 days after issuing the notification, it had not published the same, fearing it would be challenged and struck down by the courts.
He added that certain bureaucrats at the Committee of Secretaries' (CoS) meet had disagreed with the decision due to its illegality. The petition sought for a stay on the operation of the notification.
In his counter-affidavit, S Arunachalam, DIG, CBI, denied the charge of dissension among members of the committee.
He added that the Centre had considered a proposal in 2007 to include the CBI under section 24 of the RTI Act. This section exempts intelligence and security agencies from the provisions of the Act.
But when the matter was placed before the CoS at the time, the panel allowed the CBI to function under section 8 of the Act by which it could deny disclosure of sensitive information.
"Since the disclosure of information under the RTI Act was impacting the investigation, trial of cases, intelligence gathering and security of the nation adversely, the CBI moved detailed proposals before the Government of India to include it in the second schedule of the Act," the counter said.
A notification to this effect was subsequently issued on June 9, after weighing the proposals of the CBI and after consultations with the Attorney General and the Solicitor General of India.
"The notification is not issued as a reaction to any expose but it is a well-considered and reasoned decision after due consultation with all concerned and keeping the concerns of the CBI and interest of the security of the nation in mind," the CBI DIG added.
The Centre issued a "covert notification" on June 9 to keep the CBI beyond the ambit of the Act, the petition says.
The first bench of the Madras high court, comprising Chief Justice M Y Eqbal and Justice T S Sivagnanam, reserved orders on the matter on Wednesday.
A petition, filed by advocate S Vijayalakshmi, said the Centre had issued a "covert notification" on June 9 to keep the CBI beyond the ambit of the Act.
Advocate Manikandan Vathan Chettiar, who represented the petitioner, said the Centre's actions were "so blatant" that even 11 days after issuing the notification, it had not published the same, fearing it would be challenged and struck down by the courts.
He added that certain bureaucrats at the Committee of Secretaries' (CoS) meet had disagreed with the decision due to its illegality. The petition sought for a stay on the operation of the notification.
In his counter-affidavit, S Arunachalam, DIG, CBI, denied the charge of dissension among members of the committee.
He added that the Centre had considered a proposal in 2007 to include the CBI under section 24 of the RTI Act. This section exempts intelligence and security agencies from the provisions of the Act.
But when the matter was placed before the CoS at the time, the panel allowed the CBI to function under section 8 of the Act by which it could deny disclosure of sensitive information.
"Since the disclosure of information under the RTI Act was impacting the investigation, trial of cases, intelligence gathering and security of the nation adversely, the CBI moved detailed proposals before the Government of India to include it in the second schedule of the Act," the counter said.
A notification to this effect was subsequently issued on June 9, after weighing the proposals of the CBI and after consultations with the Attorney General and the Solicitor General of India.
"The notification is not issued as a reaction to any expose but it is a well-considered and reasoned decision after due consultation with all concerned and keeping the concerns of the CBI and interest of the security of the nation in mind," the CBI DIG added.
The Centre issued a "covert notification" on June 9 to keep the CBI beyond the ambit of the Act, the petition says.
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