Economic Times: New Delhi: Wednesday,
August 10, 2016.
Almost two
years after the Narendra Modi government promulgated the controversial Land
Acquisition Ordinance, the rural development ministry is still stonewalling
information under Right to Information (RTI) Act.
The ministry
had been directed by Central Information Commission (CIC), the final appellate
authority for the transparency legislation, in June to divulge Cabinet note,
file notings and all government communication on the Land Acquisition
Ordinance. However, the ministry has now filed a review petition before CIC on
the ground that information is classified as "secret".
The ministry
has taken the plea that information regarding Ordinance is exempted under
Section 8 (1) (c) and Section 8 (1) (i) of the Act. Section 8 lists out
exemptions from disclosure of information.
The review
petition says, "... the issue relating to disclosure of information was
taken up with the public authority who have stated that information that were
not provided to the appellants is classified as 'secret' and also under
consideration in Parliament..." Section 8 (1) (c) exempts any information
which could cause a breach of Parliament or state legislation and Section 8 (1)
(i) exempts Cabinet papers of decisions that are not complete.
Activist
Venkatesh Nayak and journalist Chitrangada Choudhury had sought information
under RTI Act on events leading up to promulgation of Ordinance on December 31,
2014. The RTI applications were transferred within the government multiple
times.
Nayak had
filed his RTI application in President's Secretariat as the President had
signed on the Ordinance. The application was transferred to department of land
resources which said it held no information and transferred it to legislative
department and back to the President's Secretariat.
The
legislative department said in its RTI reply that department of land resources
holds the information.
Following
this, CIC, which had clubbed all appeals, directed the department of land
resources to disclose the requisite information. RTI applicants are protesting
against the review petition on the ground that Ordinance has lapsed and there
is no reason why the government should be hiding documents pertaining to it.
Nayak told
ET, "The department has claimed applicability of Section 8(1)(c) and
8(1)(i) of the RTI Act to the information sought. It is not clear how this is
possible as we have not asked for Cabinet Notes relating to the Bill pending in
Parliament. We have asked for the Cabinet Note relating to the Ordinance which
has since lapsed. So clearly, the matter is complete and over. There is no
ground for applicability of exemption clauses."
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