RTI plea for information on appointment of CAG, EC refused

The central government has refused to divulge information on appointment to various important posts like the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), Chief Economic Advisor and Election Commissioner, sought under the Right to Information Act, activist Nutan Thakur said on Wednesday.

Lucknow-based RTI activist Thakur had sought details on appointments of former Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi as CAG, Sunil Arora as Election Commissioner, Arvind Subramanian as Chief Economic Advisor and Rajiv Gauba as Union Home Secretary.

The Cabinet Secretariat has, however, refused to provide the information citing Section 8(1)(i) of the RTI Act as the reason, which excludes Cabinet papers from the RTI Act.

Contesting this, Thakur told IANS that the refusal by the government to give information on this issue was "absolutely incorrect because matters in which decision have been taken cannot be excluded under Section 8(1)(i) of the RTI Act".

--IANS

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