Standing Committee proceedings confidential: RS

Moneycontrol.comSalman Khurshid:Tuesday 13 September 2011.

The proceedings of parliamentary committees are treated as confidential and no outsiders are associated with deliberations, Rajya Sabha has told an RTI activist turning down his plea to make public related information.

The comments of the House were received on a petition of activist SC Agrawal where he had sought to make public deliberations of the parliament committees which are "shrouded in secrecy even after the implementation of the RTI Act."

"I am directed to state that the General Purpose Committee of Rajya Sabha in its meeting held on March 20, 2001 had not agreed to the opening of proceedings of Standing Committee to media and as such, the well established practice has been that the proceedings of Parliamentary Committees are treated as confidential and no outsiders are associated with
deliberations," Joint Director K N Earendra Kumar Rajya Sabha said in reply to the plea.

Agrawal in his representation has said rules made a decade ago need to be immediately reversed so that the secrecy-cover may not hang on deliberations made in the Standing Committee discussing the Lokpal Bill.

"Rather it is time that some important meetings may be telecast live in the manner parliamentary proceedings are now open to TV cameras," it said.