Economic Times: New
Delhi: Thursday, April 17, 2014.
Advocating
for bringing CBI under purview of RTI Act, former Vigilance Commissioner R
Srikumar today said the probe agency will never get "hurt" by
revealing the truth it gathered in its probe and should win heart of the people
by opening itself for public scrutiny.
"The CBI
got exemption from RTI Act directly from the government. They (CBI) did not
involve the CVC while seeking complete exemption from the RTI Act. "As a
public institution serving a public cause, CBI should stop taking shelter of
secrecy under the RTI Act, and open itself for public scrutiny," Srikumar
told PTI.
His comments
come a day after former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi hit out at CBI
for its being "clothed in opacity, ornamented by secrecy and finally
perfumed by mystery."
"For a
short time, the CBI came under the RTI Act. The heavens did not fall during
that time. But the triple wrappings of opacity, secrecy and mystery made it
move to be taken out of the purview of the RTI Act. "This is a great pity.
The CBI is about investigations into corruption and certain crimes. It is not a
security or intelligence agency," Gandhi had said addressing a CBI
function here.
The
Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), nodal agency for implementation of
the RTI Act, had on June 9, 2011 issued a notification exempting the CBI from
the purview of the transparency law. Srikumar, also a former IPS officer and
having an experience of working in CBI, accused the agency of rejecting one of
the Central Vigilance Commission's suggestion of being transparent with its
probe.
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