Parliament, RTI tussle likely over expunged remarks

NEW DELHI: Can one invoke the Right to Information (RTI) Act to ferret out information from in-camera proceedings of Parliament standing committees or on expunged remarks? The Central Information Commission (CIC) says yes, but the Lok Sabha secretariat says no.

In a move that is likely to pit the CIC against Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee, the former says it can seek information even on remarks expunged from Parliament. However, Lok Sabha secretariat sources say the RTI or the CIC “has no jurisdiction over Parliament and there is no question of revealing information on expunged remarks”.

Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, however, told DNA that he “can seek information on expunged remarks also”.

“Parliament comes very much under RTI. Public relations officials of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are supposed to furnish information sought under the Act,” he said.

Sources said the CIC has of late been receiving requests under the RTI Act from a number of persons for information related to Parliament work.    

“It is up to the speaker to decide whether or not to furnish information. The CIC had recently sought information on assets of some MPs under RTI and the information was furnished.

As per rules, MPs are supposed to give information regarding their assets and liabilities in a sealed envelop to the speaker. Nobody is supposed to see it,” said a LS source. But it is not the job of the CIC to seek information on expunged remarks, he added.