Daily Pioneer: Bhubaneswar: Friday, July 20, 2018.
The text of
the RTI Amendment Bill was finally available one day before the Parliament’s
Monsoon Session commenced. The secrecy around the amendments has prevented any
meaningful debate or public engagement with the proposed changes.
It is a
matter of grave concern that the Government does not value the opinion of
millions of people and information seekers whose fundamental right to
information will be impacted through this amendment.
The proposed
amendments to the RTI Act will completely destroy the autonomy of Information
Commissions set up under the RTI Act, to adjudicate on appeals and complaints
of people who have been denied their rights under the RTI Act.
The
amendments seek to empower the Central Government to decide the tenure and
salary and allowances of the Information Commissioners of the Central
Information Commission and also of State Information Commissions.
This would
fundamentally weaken the institution of the information commissions as it will
adversely impact their ability to function in an independent manner.
The
Information Commissions are the final authorities to adjudicate on claims of
access to information which is a deemed fundamental right under the
Constitution. The status conferred on the Commissioners under the RTI Act is to
empower them to carry out their functions autonomously and require even the
highest offices to comply with the provisions of the law.
The rationale
provided by the Government for the amendments is that treating Information
Commissioners on par with functionaries of the Election Commission is
incorrect, as the latter is a constitutional body while Information Commissions
are statutory bodies.
This
contention is inherently flawed. The principle of according a high stature, and
protecting the terms of service by equating it to functionaries of
constitutional bodies, is routinely adopted for independent statutory oversight
bodies, including the Central Vigilance Commission and the Lokpal.
As the RTI
Act stands today, the salaries, allowances and other terms of service of the
chief of the Central Information Commission are the same as that of the Chief
Election Commissioner. Those of the Central Information Commissioners and State
Chief Information Commissioners are on par with the Election Commissioners. The
chief and other Election Commissioners are paid a salary equal to the salary of
a Judge of the Supreme Court, which is decided by the Parliament.
The status of
the Information Commissioners was extensively discussed during the formulation
of the law, including by the Standing Committee. It recommended that to achieve
this objective, it would be desirable to confer on the Central Chief
Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners, status of the Chief
Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners, respectively. The committee’s
recommendation to elevate the status of Information Commissioners was accepted
and passed by the Parliament.
Therefore,
the rationale put forth by the Government to amend the RTI Act is completely
fallacious. In fact, there are several issues which require urgent attention of
the Government to ensure proper functioning of the RTI Act, including making
appointments to the large number of vacancies in the Information Commissions,
addressing issue of attacks on information seekers by implementing the
Whistleblowers Protection Act, addressing poor implementation of proactive
disclosures.
It is
inexplicable that instead of addressing these issues, the Government’s sole
focus appears to be to weaken the RTI Act.
(The writer
is a leading RTI activist of Odisha)
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