Onmanorama: Thiruvananthapuram: Wednesday,
June 22, 2016.
In an
important order, the State Information Commission has stated that the cabinet
decisions of the State Information Commission has stated that the cabinet
decisions of the Kerala government would come under the ambit of Right to
Information (RTI) Act.
During the
rule of the previous UDF government, an RTI request seeking information on
cabinet decision had
run into legal tussle.
The
commission on Tuesday issued the order while settling that case.
The
commission has also directed the government that the latter can consider
publishing cabinet decisions online.
The move by
the state information commission gains importance as the as the Pinarayi
Vijayan-led LDF government has done away with the practice of convening press conference
after cabinet meeting.
The move
comes after the general administration department of the government rejected an
RTI petition that sought details of the decisions made by the previous Oommen
Chandy cabinet towards the end of its tenure.
The general
administration had rejected the request saying that it was impractical to
classify decisions emerging from the cabinet as some of them come under the RTI
Act and some do not.
Challenging
the general administration department's order, RTI activist D.B. Binu
approached the state information commission.
State
information commissioner Vinson M. Paul overruled the general administration
department's stance and said that the decisions should definitely be made
public soon after the cabinet meeting. He also said that it is not right to deny
information on cabinet decisions with fragile arguments.
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