It's 'RTI Elimination Bill', Says Dr Shashi Tharoor On RTI Amendment

During the Lok Sabha discussion on the Right to Information Act (Amendment) Bill 2019, Dr. Shahsi Tharoor heavily criticized it, by terming it 'RTI Elimination Bill'.He said that changing the fixed tenure of the Information Commissioners, and making their service conditions subject to the executive rules to be framed by the Central Government will undermine their autonomy and independence."Now through the Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2019, the government seeks to amend Sections 13, 16, and 27 of the RTI Act which equates the status of the central information commissioners (CICs) with that of the election commissioners (and the state information commissioners with the chief secretaries of the states), so that they can function in an independent and effective manner. The dismantling of this architecture empowers the Central government to unilaterally decide the tenure, salary, allowances and other terms of service of information commissioners, both at the Centre and the states.", said the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram.Dr Tharoor also rebutted the justification offered by Union Minister Jitendra Singh for the amendment that it was merely an attempt to bring uniformity in services. While introducing the Bill, Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension, said that Information Commission was a statutory body and it was an anomaly to equate it to a constitutional body like Election Commission. Making Information Commissioners equal to the status of Election Commissioners means that they are at par with Supreme Court judges. However, the orders of Information Commissioners can be challenged in High Court. Therefore, there is an apparent anomaly in the status of Information Commissioners, which needs to be rectified, explained the Minister.Terming this logic to be 'fallacious', Dr. Tharoor said :"Introducing the Bill in the Lok Sabha, the honourable minister of state for personnel, public grievances and pensions, my good friend Jitendra Singh ji, asserted that this is a minor and routine amendment prompted by the anomaly that information commissioners are making decisions which can be challenged in the High Courts, so how can they have the same status as Supreme Court judges? This is fallacious logic, Mr Speaker. You and I can challenge the decisions of the President of India and the Prime Minister in high courts today – does that reduce those dignitaries to below the level of high court judges?"Fixity of term of officials is an important factor for ensuring the independence of an institution, he highlighted :"It is widely accepted around the world that one of the most important structural elements of any independent oversight institution, such as the CVC, the chief election commission, the Lokpal, and the CIC, is a basic guarantee of tenure and a fixed salary. There is a strong nexus between the independence of an institution and the fixity of tenure and stable income of its officials. The Supreme Court of India in Union of India v. R. Gandhi, president, Madras Bar Association, had recognised fixed tenures and stable salaries as essential aspects of institutional independence."RTI has made government uncomfortableDr. Tharoor said that the real intent behind the seemingly innocuous amendment is to weaken the institution of Central Information Commission, which has made the government uncomfortable in past.The CIC has passed in past orders for disclosure of educational qualification of Prime Minister, defaulters list of RBI, information on electoral bonds, demonitization etc."The basic truth, Mr Speaker, is that RTI has resulted in a fundamental shift — empowering a citizen's access to power and decision-making. That is why this government doesn't like it. Some 60 lakh Indian citizens have availed of the right to obtain information from the government at local, state and central levels. This has made RTI a challenge to vested interests at all levels of government because it threatens arbitrariness, misuse of privilege, and corruption. They have obtained information from such diverse institutions of governance as the village ration shop, the Reserve Bank of India, and the Prime Minister's Office; they have raised questions on the defence ministry, on demonetisation, on electoral bonds, on unemployment figures, and even on the appointments of the election commissioners and the non-appointment of the Lokpal. The information related to decision-making at the highest level has for the most part been given to them, despite some serious resistance by officials in government, because of the independence and high status of the information commission. That is what the government is trying to amend", he said.The government in the past five years "hollowed out the existence" of CIC by delaying appointments, he said. Steps to fill up vacancies were taken only after the Supreme Court intervened."In 2018, the CIC had to function with just 3 out of its 11 commissioners,...

It's 'RTI Elimination Bill', Says Dr Shashi Tharoor On RTI Amendment

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