The
Leaflet: National: Friday, 9 December 2022.
A problem one might sow
A good example on this point
Is the fundamental right to know
So many committed activists
Wishing the good of the Nation
Campaigned incessantly and long
For the Right to Information
When the RTI Act finally came
Every activist was delighted
Under its sunshine transparency
Secret corners could be sighted
Soon RTI had many enemies
Especially those with a lot to hide
They began waging a war against
Activists and Act from every side
Beneficial legislation was fettered
By ingenious milord-made case law
Disclosure versus Privacy
Mounted interpretation’s seesaw
There are exceptions to disclosure
But they must pass a stringent test
Personal convenience can never
Prevail over larger public interest
‘Digital Data Protection Bill’
Is the latest missile in offing
It looks like another big nail
Is headed for the RTI’s coffin
Why are activists so concerned?
You have a right to ask “Why?”
It’s because our right to get info
May be subverted by a Right to Deny!
(Raju Z. Moray practices law in Mumbai. For more than 20 years he has been a contributor of articles and poems to publications of the Lawyers Collective. An anthology of his humorous writing for 'The Lawyers' magazine was published in 2017 as 'Court Jester' and the series of 60 poems he penned during the 2020 Lockdown for 'The Leaflet' has been published in December 2020 as 'The Locked Down Lawyer')
A problem one might sow
A good example on this point
Is the fundamental right to know
So many committed activists
Wishing the good of the Nation
Campaigned incessantly and long
For the Right to Information
When the RTI Act finally came
Every activist was delighted
Under its sunshine transparency
Secret corners could be sighted
Soon RTI had many enemies
Especially those with a lot to hide
They began waging a war against
Activists and Act from every side
Beneficial legislation was fettered
By ingenious milord-made case law
Disclosure versus Privacy
Mounted interpretation’s seesaw
There are exceptions to disclosure
But they must pass a stringent test
Personal convenience can never
Prevail over larger public interest
‘Digital Data Protection Bill’
Is the latest missile in offing
It looks like another big nail
Is headed for the RTI’s coffin
Why are activists so concerned?
You have a right to ask “Why?”
It’s because our right to get info
May be subverted by a Right to Deny!
(Raju Z. Moray practices law in Mumbai. For more than 20 years he has been a contributor of articles and poems to publications of the Lawyers Collective. An anthology of his humorous writing for 'The Lawyers' magazine was published in 2017 as 'Court Jester' and the series of 60 poems he penned during the 2020 Lockdown for 'The Leaflet' has been published in December 2020 as 'The Locked Down Lawyer')
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