Changes in RTI Act's privacy clause will allow corrupt babus to escape public scrutiny: IC

The changes in the privacy clause of the RTI Act suggested by the Justice Srikrishna panel will allow corrupt officers to escape public scrutiny, an Information Commissioner has said.

Calling the changes proposed in the draft Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018 as unwarranted, Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu has written to Chief Information Commissioner R K Mathur and all other commissioners to discuss the recommendations and take a stand to oppose "to save the Right to Information".

The draft bill is based on the recommendations of the government-constituted panel headed by Justice B N Srikrishna.

"We need to emphasise that any proposal to amend provisions of the RTI Act shall not be taken up without wide ranging consultation with public in general and ICs in particular," Acharyulu said in a note circulated among all commissioners, a copy of which is accessed by the PTI.

The draft bill seeks to amend Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act which exempts from disclosure personal information subject to several conditions.

Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act exempts from disclosure "information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information."
"Provided, disclosure of information under this clause shall be notwithstanding anything contained in the Personal Data Protection Act, 2018."