To
The Hon’ble Member of Parliament of Odisha
Lok Sabha
New Delhi
Dear Sir/ Madam
Greetings from NCPRI
National Campaign
for People’s Right to Information
is a national network of
Civil Society Groups and
Activists spearheading campaign
for effective implementation of
RTI Act in the country.
As
aware you are, the NDA Government has introduced the RTI Amendment Bill, 2019 in the
Lok Sabha on Friday (July 19, 2019). The proposed amendments are
regressive and are aimed squarely at undermining the independence of
information commissions, thereby diluting India’s strongest and most widely used
framework for transparency.
It is a
matter of grave concern that the amendments to the RTI Law were introduced in
complete secrecy and in flagrant violation of the Pre-Legislative Consultation
Policy of the Central government which mandates public disclosure and
consultation on draft legislations. Owing to the undemocratic way of its
introduction, the contents of the draft amendments were not known by MPs,
citizens and the media till the bill was circulated to members of the
Lok Sabha on the eve of its introduction.
The bill
seeks to amend the RTI Act in order to empower the Central Government
to unilaterally decide the tenure, salary, allowances and other terms of
service of Information Commissioners at the Centre and States. The NDA
Government has done so by wilfully misrepresenting an amendment to a basic
feature of the law, as a function of rule-making.
As the RTI
Act stands today, it provides for a fixed tenure of 5 years for information
commissioners (subject to the age limit of 65 years). Further, 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. This is a
part of the basic structure of the existing law and therefore any amendment to
these provisions undermines the basic structure of the RTI.
The status
of information commissioners was extensively discussed during the formulation
of the law, including in the Standing Committee. In fact, the Standing
Committee opined, “Information Commission is an
important creation under the Act which
will execute the laudable scheme of the
legislation …It should, therefore, be
ensured that it functions with utmost
independence and autonomy.” 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 parliament
unanimously through an extensive process of public and Parliamentary
consultation.
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.
Enabling
the Executive to govern the functioning of the Commissions will 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 RTI Act confers an autonomous status to Commissions to
empower them to carry out their functions independently so as to enforce
compliance of the highest offices with the provisions of the law. Further, the
Central government usurping for itself the power to decide even the tenure,
salaries and allowances of information commissioners of the State Information
Commissions, raises key issues of federalism, and is a
continuing indication of the current Government’s centralized, and
undemocratic decision making.
It is
needless to mention here that the RTI
Act is used every year by nearly 6 million citizens of the country. It has
proved to be the strongest tool in the hands of ordinary citizens to realize
their fundamental right to know and hold power to account. The law’s passage in
the Parliament in 2005 was a victory for peoples’ movements and campaigns that
represented the will and intention of lakhs of citizens to keep democracy
alive.
We , therefore, request you to
raise this issue in parliament
and oppose the regressive amendment of RTI Law
in the interest of democracy .
Thanking you
Yours sincerely
Pradip
Pradhan
National
Co-Convener
NCPRI
M-9937843482
Date-21.7.19
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