J&K govt waters down RTI rules

The central government and the Congress are stumped at the J&K government’s decision to water down the Right to Information (RTI) Act rules.

Touted as prime minister Manmohan Singh’s flagship programme, the RTI was extended to the state led by National Conference (NC) chief minister Omar Abdullah, to provide an outlet for protests and grievances. Besides the state unit Congress president Saifudin Soz, former chief information commissioner and now head of National Minority Commission (NCM) Wajahat Habibullah has opposed the amendments to RTI rules and termed the exercise ‘secretive’ and without “reasoned justification”.

The new RTI rules notified by the general administration department (GAD) last month have divested the state information commission (SIC) of judicial and financial powers. Its powers to launch criminal proceedings against erring officials have also been revoked. Further, a host of rules which provide guidance for implementing key provisions of the Act have been discarded, under the justification that there are no enabling provisions in the principal Act and that such powers are not exercised by the central information commissioner.

In an eight page-letter to Omar, Habibullah, who had drafted the J&K RTI Act in 2009, said that by amending its rules, the government was making the law a toothless tiger. He said the state chief information commissioner Ghulam Rasool Sofi was also disappointed at not having been consulted while framing the new rules. He also said that the attitude of the Omar Abdullah government could only be described as retrograde and is a setback to the transparency of the regime.

While divesting SIC of judicial powers, the government has argued that the Act does not empower the commission to launch criminal action against government officers in relation to a second appeal or complaint proceedings. Further, it argues that proceedings of the commission are not judicial proceedings.

Habibullah’s letter says the SIC would be now subjected to the whims and fancies of errant officers. “With the repeal of these rules, the public authorities have the dangerous option of not complying with the directions and summons of the J&K SIC,” says the letter.

The government has even repealed Rule 37 that empowered the commission to engage with stakeholders to improve records management. So, the SIC would no longer be able to summon officers and examine their records management practices and issue directions for improvement as available in the J&K RTI Act.

The government has even repealed Rule 19 that required the SIC to observe the routine of working hours and holidays notified by the state government. By repealing this rule, the government has only created confusion as to the working hours and holidays, the SIC must observe.