The Hindu: Activists up in arms as anti-graft agency goes out of RTI purview RASHMI RAJPUT/Mumbai Notification was made when Prithviraj Chavan was in charge In a controversial move that has come into the public domain three days ago, the General Administration Department (GAD) under the charge of the then Chief Minister, Prithviraj Chavan, had issued a notification exempting the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) from the purview of the RTI. The notification, made just six days before the model code of conduct came into force, has drawn flak from the RTI activists as the anti-corruption body was awaiting sanction from the government to commence an open inquiry against former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and another senior NCP leader Sunil Tatkare in the alleged multi-crore irrigation scam. What has shocked the activists and the political activists is that though the notification was made on September 6, it was put up on the website of the ACB only last week. The notification unless withdrawn would save many newly nominated MLAs who defected from the NCP and joined the BJP, including former NCP strongman Vijay Kumar Gavit. Speaking to The Hindu , former Information Commissioner with the Central Information Commissioner and prominent RTI activist Shailesh Gandhi said that the move was illegal. Mr. Gandhi plans to take up the issue with the State Information Commission. “The former government has cited the provision under Section 24 of the Act to grant exemption to the ACB but the exemption under the said provision is only for the purpose of internal security and sensitive information shared by Intelligence agencies. The ACB on the other hand only deals with matters of corruption,” he said. “Also the preamble of the Act speaks about curbing corruption, so such a move is against the very basis of the Act,” added Mr. Gandhi. Anil Galgali, another prominent RTI activist wondered whether the new government would reverse it. “With many of the NCP politicians having moved to the BJP and the party showing its willingness to render outside support I think even the BJP government would not do much about it.” Pune-based RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar told The Hindu , “The terse, four-line notice was stealthily put up on an obscure corner of the ACB website. It was not even there on the official State government website, as it should be. I stumbled on it more than a month after it was issued during a follow-up with the ACB concerning scam-tainted bureaucrats,” he said. According to Mr. Velankar, there should have been a public consensus on the notification which in turn should have been ratified by the State Legislature. City-based activists have appealed to the Maharashtra Chief Information Commissioner to nullify the government notification, as it was issued in violation of the RTI Act.
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 07:06:09 +0000
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