"What the RTI Act did was to make available to citizens any information that could be provided, that the government was obliged to provide to a Member of Parliament (MP). In theory, that channel remains open to us," says prominent economist and RTI activist Reetika Khera about how Indian citizens could still have access to information that they want
'The prime minister has taken pre-emptive action by not appointing a Chief Information Commissioner at all to render it dysfunctional.'
'The bureaucracy is also hardening its stand and in most cases has realised that the commissioners are not really committed to transparency,' says former Central Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi.
Last year, there was no convention because the government had not appointed any chief information commissioner, who happens to be administrative head of the commission and oversees preparations of the function.
With tags of 'patriots' and 'anti-nationals' being at the centre of debate, the Central Information Commission has asked the home ministry to make public the list of people who are facing sedition charges for indulging in alleged anti-national activities.
'No Indian political party functions in a democratic way.'
Marandi returned to the BJP after 14 years and the party now wants him to lead the state unit. But a generation of new leaders isn't familiar with him, explains Radhika Ramaseshan.
The Prime Minister's Office not disclosing information about expenses incurred on foreign visits of the Prime Minister nothwithstanding, a Central Information Commission-constituted panel has recommended not only putting out such details proactively by all ministries but regular updating as well.
The anti-corruption watchdog posts have been vacant for the last nine months.
Stepping up his offensive against Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi on Saturday alleged that there is a "partnership" between the BJP PM candidate and Adani and accused the industrialist of "funding" the Modi marketing blitz to return "favours".
Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge has reportedly been inducted into the three-member selection committee which will select the chief information commissioner.
Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu said it was surprising to know that on these national aspects, the Central Public Information Officers of all high offices simply passed it on to the others "without application of mind".
Following is the chronology of events in the case in which a five-judge Constitution Bench of the SC upheld the 2010 Delhi high court verdict which said that the office of the Chief Justice of India falls under the ambit of RTI Act.
The commission also suggested that the government publish the cabinet decisions on its official website.
The CIC, the top appellate body in RTI matters, went through the law, orders of the Supreme Court, the Law Commission of India report, submissions of the Central Public Information Officer in the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to conclude that the status, nature and functional characteristics of the BCCI fulfil required conditions of Section 2(h) of the RTI Act.
The outstanding tax demand by the income tax department on the Board of Control for Cricket in India may go up to over Rs 860 crore, according to an RTI reply from the department.
The former finance minister also said the centre should find out the areas in Jammu and Kashmir where autonomy can be given.
A full bench comprising of Chief Information Commissioner Satyanand Mishra and Commissioners M L Sharma and Annapurna Dikshit of the Central Information Commission reserved its verdict on political funding.
The disclosure of information related to casualties suffered by army during Kargil war and number of terrorists killed cannot be made public as it would "affect morale of nation", Central Information Commission has held in an order 14 years after the war.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday recalled an order and admitted that it committed a "mistake of law" by directing that only sitting or retired high court chief justices or an apex court judge could head the central and state information commissions.
'The finance ministry and public sector banks have tried to keep the names of wilful defaulters secret.' 'Secrecy and concealing information are inbred among banks and even the RBI,' observes Debashis Basu, editor, www.moneylife.in.
Alleging a conspiracy in leakage of telephone conversation between state Information Commissioner, K Natarajan and Vigilance officer V J Kunju, Communist Party of India-Marxist leader V S Achutanandan on Tuesday submitted before Kerala high court that efforts were on to implicate him in the land assignment case.
The company should be given a fair chance to be heard in the matter, the judges said and posted the matter for further hearing on December 19.
Holding that central and state information commissions perform quasi-judicial functions, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked the government to appoint people from judicial background also as its members.
After admitting the application of Gujarat University, seeking to quash the CIC order on technical grounds, judge S H Vora issued notices to Information Commissioner M Sridhar Acharyulu and Kejriwal to furnish their responses and kept further hearing next month.
The Central Information Commission has directed the Income Tax department to make public documents related to tax exemption given to the ICC World Cup held last year in the country.
They've also asked to explain how the disclosure of the documents would impact the country's economic interests.
Two top Muslim organisations -- All India Milli Council and Jamiat-e-Ulema Hind (Mahmood Madni) -- on Tuesday backed National Commission for Minorities (NCM) Chairman Wajahat Habibullah's call for scheduled caste status to Muslim and Christian Dalits.
Days after the special Central Bureau of Investigation court granted bail to seven accused in the Adarsh Society scam, two more accused have filed their bail applications.
The Central Information Commission has directed the Delhi Police and Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Chandigarh to make public forensic reports in the alleged doctored CD case carrying conversation among lawyers Shanti Bhushan and Prashant Bhushan, Amar Singh and Mulayam Singh Yadav.
The Union minister has been at the centre of a row after he garlanded the lynching convicts at his residence in Hazaribagh in Jharkhand after they came out of prison on bail last week.
The appointment of retired IAS officer Ranjit Singh Pankaj as Uttar Pradesh's chief information commissioner has come under intense scrutiny. Governor B L Joshi, who had appointed Pankaj on June 30, 2009, has questioned the appointment on grounds of concealment of material facts by the appointee.
Former civic chief Jairaj Phatak and ex-state information commissioner Ramanand Tiwari, arrested in the Adarsh society scam, were on Thursday granted bail by a special Central Bureau of Investigation court in Mumbai as the agency failed to file the charge-sheet within the stipulated 60-day period. The duo, which had been in custody since their arrest on April 3, had filed their bail applications on Monday.
Report consists of recommendations for dividing the Western Ghats region into various ecologically sensitive zones.
The Central Information Commission has directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to disclose proposals sent to Union home ministry seeking permission for tapping telephones.
A foreign country, which now has good relations with India, spread false information on the death of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri in Tashkent nearly four decades ago, intelligence reports produced on Wednesday by the Prime Minister's Office MO before the Central Information Commission indicate.
The Central Information Commission has held that the External Affairs Ministry should disclose all information related to the Bhopal Gas tragedy, including communication exchanged between it and the Central Bureau of Investigation on the extradition of the then Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson.
'PM-CARES money is for the relief of citizens, so what is the secrecy then?' 'Why will it harm anyone if it is revealed where the money came from and where it is going?' 'What is there to hide?'
Are victims of bomb blasts and terrorist activists given only "low cost" artificial limbs during rehabilitation? The issue has been highlighted by Central Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi in a letter written to Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad asking for "good treatment" for victims of bomb blasts and terror acts.
Chief Information Commissioner Satyananda Mishra rejected the contentions of the PMO which had claimed that such class of information could not be provided "without compromising interests of the State and other specified concerns".
Pinning the blame on former Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, suspended state information commissioner and Adarsh Housing Society scam accused Ramanand Tiwari has told the judicial panel probing the case that it was Deshmukh who had approved all proposals pertaining to the high rise in south Mumbai.
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