The Hindu: Thiruvananthapuram: Saturday,
July 16, 2016.
Flays move to
challenge info panel chief’s order on Cabinet decisions.
Leader of the
Opposition Ramesh Chennithala has termed as mysterious, the government decision
to go on appeal against the Chief Information Commissioner’s (CIC) order to
publicise the State Cabinet decisions.
Mr.
Chennithala told reporters here on Friday that the Left Democratic Front (LDF)
government which assumed office with the claim of making administration
transparent had gone back on its promise and the decision had been made with
the intention to hide Cabinet decision from the people.
He accused
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of conducting himself like a despot. The
decision amounted to challenging the spirit of the Right to Information Act and
was condemnable, he said.
Posting on
website
Chief Information
Commissioner Vinson M. Paul had clearly said that Cabinet decisions should be
posted on the website in 48 hours. Decision on certain files would be made only
in consultation with various departments. In that case, the government need
publish the details only after issuing the final order. The previous government
had issued two circulars for posting Cabinet decision on the government
website. Still it was accused of concealing details from the public.
The new
government had formed a Cabinet subcommittee for reviewing 782 decisions made
at the fag end of the previous government’s tenure. Except for 32 files, the
committee could not find anything wrong in rest of the files. It could not make
a decision in the 32 files even after 45 days. All such moves were aimed at
defaming the United Democratic Front (UDF) government and creating a
smokescreen, he said.
Referring to
an earlier decision to exclude `T’ branch of the Vigilance from the purview of
RTI Act, Mr. Chennithala said the decision was made to conserve the secrecy of
surprise checks, confidential inquiries, and protect the life of those sharing
crucial information.
On finding
that former Chief Ministers, Ministers and such others too were brought within
the ambit of this category and when it came for criticism, a Cabinet meeting on
March 22, had reverted the decision. Still, the previous government was put on
the dock for including them, he said. He demanded that the government repeal
the decision to go on appeal against the CIC order.