The Times of India: Bhopal: Monday, March 26, 2012.
An order issued by P P Tewari, the chief information commissioner of Madhya Pradesh, barely an hour before his retirement has put the Vidhan Sabha in a fix. Tewari asked the speaker to issue orders to make public the travelling expenses of MLAs by uploading them on the assembly website.
The CIC is to retire on March 25 and signed the order an hour before his last working day on March 22 as the three subsequent days were government holidays.
In March 2010, the Vidhan Sabha secretariat had refused to provide information to an RTI applicant who sought details of the TA and DA claimed by legislators. The applicant, Ravindra Jain, had subsequently appealed to the CIC.
The speaker denied the information saying it would be a breach of privilege of the MLAs, while the CIC disagreed. Jain told TOI that he sought the information to pin down alleged irregularities.
Asked why he had made this recommendation on the verge of retirement, Tewari claimed it took time to study the issue. "I wanted to study the issue of privilege. However, this is not codified anywhere and I could not perform my job", said Tewari, who was earlier at loggerheads with the Lokayukta, since he wanted the ombudsman's office to come under RTI.
The CIC's order said: "The commitment and conduct of public servants should be beyond any doubt." The speaker however said he had no idea about the CIC's recommendation. "I am in Jabalpur. I did hear about it (the recommendation), but let me return to Bhopal on Monday," he said.
The CIC is to retire on March 25 and signed the order an hour before his last working day on March 22 as the three subsequent days were government holidays.
In March 2010, the Vidhan Sabha secretariat had refused to provide information to an RTI applicant who sought details of the TA and DA claimed by legislators. The applicant, Ravindra Jain, had subsequently appealed to the CIC.
The speaker denied the information saying it would be a breach of privilege of the MLAs, while the CIC disagreed. Jain told TOI that he sought the information to pin down alleged irregularities.
Asked why he had made this recommendation on the verge of retirement, Tewari claimed it took time to study the issue. "I wanted to study the issue of privilege. However, this is not codified anywhere and I could not perform my job", said Tewari, who was earlier at loggerheads with the Lokayukta, since he wanted the ombudsman's office to come under RTI.
The CIC's order said: "The commitment and conduct of public servants should be beyond any doubt." The speaker however said he had no idea about the CIC's recommendation. "I am in Jabalpur. I did hear about it (the recommendation), but let me return to Bhopal on Monday," he said.
.JPG)
.JPG)
