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The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday pleas seeking filling of vacancies in Central Information Commission (CIC) and State Information Commissions (SICs) amid rising pendency of cases before them. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi will hear pleas filed by activist Anjali Bhardwaj and others in which it had earlier directed the Centre to expeditiously fill up the vacancies in the CIC and SICs. On November 27, the top court deferred the matter after it was informed by Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj that the selection committee constituted under section 12(3) of the Right to Information Act, 2005 was scheduled to meet on October 28, 2025 but the meeting could not take place. The bench had asked Nataraj to speak to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) and apprise them of the total vacancies, observing that "we have no reason to doubt that the Competent Authority will take the necessary initiative to fill the available ...
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday accused the Modi government of "systematically corroding" the Right to Information (RTI) Act and "hollowing out" democracy and citizens' rights. In a post on X, Kharge said that 20 years ago, the Congress-led UPA Government, under the leadership of the then prime minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, ushered in a new era of transparency and accountability by implementing the Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005. "In the last 11 years, the Modi Government has systematically corroded the RTI Act, thereby hollowing out Democracy and citizens' rights," he said in his post. The Congress chief claimed that in 2019, the Modi government "hacked away" at the RTI Act, seizing control over Information Commissioners' tenure and pay, "converting independent watchdogs into servile functionaries." "The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, gutted the RTI's public interest clause, weaponising privacy to shield corruption and stonewall ...
In what can be construed as a relief to the BCCI, the Sports Ministry has amended the RTI-related provision of the National Sports Governance Bill, placing only those bodies under its ambit which rely on government grants and assistance. The bill was tabled in the Lok Sabha by Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on July 23 and its clause 15 (2) stated that "a recognised sports organisation shall be considered as a public authority under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 with respect to the exercise of its functions, duties and powers under this Act." The RTI has been a thorny issue for the BCCI, which has steadfastly opposed coming under it as the Board is not dependent on government funds unlike a majority of other National Sports Federations (NSFs). The amendment proposed in the bill effectively puts an end to that apprehension. "The amended clause defines public authority as an entity that is relying on government funds or assistance. With this amendment, there is a clear .
Advising the Delhi government to stop ex post facto renewal of licences od private hospitals, the CIC has said private entities providing essential public services have to be brought under RTI Act in a state-specific amendment of the transparency law. Information Commissioner Vinod Kumar Tiwari made these observations while hearing the case of an RTI applicant who was allegedly given "exorbitant bills" by a private hospital for the treatment of his wife in 2023. RTI applicant Sanjeev Kumar had approached Delhi government's Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) seeking details of licence issued to Artemis Hospital, where his wife underwent treatment, among other information in a 12-pointer application. Not getting satisfactory response, he approached the Central Information Commission with his case. "...Core contention of the appellant in the instant appeal was non-receipt of correct and accurate information from the PIO and also arbitrary practice adopted by the Artemis ..
Four state information commissions, the top appellate bodies in RTI-related matters in states, have been lying defunct with no information commissioners to adjudicate complaints and appeals against public authorities, a report said on Friday. The report by Satark Nagrik Sangathan, a transparency advocacy group, on the eve of the 19th anniversary of the enactment of the Right to Information Act, said the state information commissions in Goa, Jharkhand, Tripura, and Telangana have been without a commissioner. According to the RTI Act, the state and central information commissions have a Chief Information Commissioner and 10 Information Commissioners to adjudicate complaints and appeals filed by citizens if the public authority does not supply information sought by them as per provisions of the law. The report said no information commissioner was appointed in Jharkhand after the completion of the tenure of the last incumbent on May 8, 2020, rendering it completely defunct for more than
The BJP alleged on Thursday that the kingpin arrested in the case of seizure of Rs 5,600 crore here is the chairman of the RTI cell of the Delhi Youth Congress. BJP spokesperson and MP Sudhanshu Trivedi slammed the Congress for its alleged links to drug dealers involved in destroying the country and sought explanation from the main opposition party. He questioned if the drug money was being used by the Congress in its campaign and whether the party's relationship with the alleged kingpin Tushar Goyal extended to business as well. Was there an arrangement between drug dealers and the Congress that they will be given a free run in Haryana, if the party comes to power, he asked. Trivedi claimed that Goyal not only had pictures with senior Congress leaders like K C Venugopal and Deepender Singh Hooda but also had the mobile number of Hooda. The Hooda family should explain, he said. He read from Goyal's appointment letter as the head of the Delhi Youth Congress's RTI cell, claiming th
Out of around 10 lakh sanctioned posts under the safety category in the Indian Railways, more than 1.5 lakh are vacant, the Railway Ministry has said in response to an application under the Right to Information Act in March. Officials, however, have said the safety of trains is of topmost priority and the railways has made significant investments in this matter in the past 10 years while also taking up many structural and systemic improvements that have had a positive impact on safe operations. Safety category posts include train drivers, inspectors, crew controllers, loco instructors, train controllers, track maintainers, station masters, pointsmen, electric signal maintainers and signalling supervisors among others. Being directly involved in the running of trains, personnel in these posts are crucial to safe train operations. "The total number of sanctioned, on roll (working) and vacant posts in safety category of Indian Railways, as available in this office, as on 01.03.2024 ..
As many as 7,575 trees have been felled on a nearly 16-km-long section of the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway and over 1.76 lakh are to be planted in compensation for it, according to the National Highways Authority of India. Of the felled trees on the Ganeshpur-Dehradun section of the project, 4,983 were in Uttarakhand, while 2,592 were in Uttar Pradesh, the NHAI said in response to a query filed under provisions of the Right To Information (RTI) Act. In the RTI query, Noida-based social activist Amit Gupta also sought to know the status of replantation and survival of trees on the 15.8-km-long section of the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway. In his response, Pankaj Kumar Mourya, the public information officer-cum-project director, said 155 trees have been translocated in Uttar Pradesh and 121 of them have survived the translocation. According to the compensatory afforestation scheme submitted by the forest departments of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, 1,76,050 trees are to be planted by them
The AIIMS-Delhi received more than Rs 23 crore in funding from the Centre for treatment of rare diseases in the last five years, according to information received through RTI Act. Overall the Centre has released around Rs 90 crore in funds to several Centres of Excellence (CoE) for treatment of rare diseases since 2019, the information received under the Right to Information (RTI) Act showed. The Delhi All India Institute of Medical Sciences, or AIIMS, one of the eight CoE for treatment of rare diseases in the country, said it received Rs 1 crore in 2019, nil in 2020, Rs 4.10 crore in 2021, Rs 7.12 crore in 2023, and Rs 10.93 crore in 2023. The Department of Health and Family Welfare said as per records maintained in the Rare Disease Cell, the government released Rs 1.30 crore in 2019-20, Rs 10 crore in 2020-21, Rs 3.15 crore in 2021-21, Rs 34.99 crore in 2022-23, and Rs 40 crore in 2023-24 (till date). The RTI query was filed by Noida-based social activist Amit Gupta. According t
The famed Guruvaur Sree Krishna Temple in this central Kerala district, which recently revealed details of bank deposits to the tune of over Rs 1,700 crore, has declared that it also has over 260 kg of gold in stock. In an RTI reply, the authorities of the temple said it has 263.637 kg of gold comprising precious stones and coins, and nearly 20,000 gold lockets. The management of the shrine had earlier refused to give details due to security reasons. The RTI document, which was provided after an appeal, showed that the temple owns 6,605 kg of silver, 19,981 gold lockets and 5,359 silver ones. The RTI, however, has not revealed the total value of gold and silver since the antiquity of some of them has not yet been established. In December last, the RTI revealed the bank deposits to be to the tune of Rs 1,737.04 crore and land of 271.05 acres the value of which was yet to be assessed. The centuries-old shrine, where Lord Vishnu is worshipped as Krishna, attracts thousands of people
The Supreme Court Friday said an online portal for filing RTI applications to help people access information about the top court is "practically ready" for launch. A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli said the online portal to streamline responses of the Supreme Court under the Right to Information Act is ready for being unveiled. "The online portal of the Supreme Court for streamlining the responses under the Right to Information Act 2005 is practically ready for being launched. In this view of the matter, the grievance of the petitioners has been duly met. The petition is accordingly disposed of," the bench said. The top court was hearing a plea filed by law students Akriti Agarwal and Lakshya Purohit seeking a mechanism to file RTI applications online. Currently, the RTI applications with respect to the top court are filed through post. The PIL contended that the e-committee has already provided an efficient mechanism for e-filing of petitions but do
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday said the effective use of the Right to Information Act (RTI) will help in building a developed and corruption free country as envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Inaugurating the 15th Annual Convention of Central Information Commission (CIC), the Speaker said the main aim of the RTI Act is empowering citizens, bringing transparency, getting system rid of corruption and taking democracy to the people of the country in the true sense. Addressing the two-day convention titled "Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav: Citizen centric Governance through RTI", Minister of state for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Jitendra Singh said the non-domiciles and non-State subjects of Jammu and Kashmir will also now be entitled to file RTI related on issues related to Union Territory (UT) or agencies. Lauding the Commission for hearing petitions from newly carved out Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh during the peak of Covid lockdown, th
The Centre spent approximately Rs 38 lakh on the 36-hour State visit by former US President Donald Trump in 2020 in accommodation, meals, logistics etc, the External Affairs Ministry has told the Central Information Commission. On his maiden visit to India, Trump accompanied by his wife Melania, daughter Ivanka, son-in-law Jared Kushner and several top officials had visited Ahmedabad, Agra, and New Delhi on February 24-25, 2020. He had spent three hours in Ahmedabad on February 24 during which he attended a 22-km-long roadshow, paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at the Sabarmati Ashram, and addressed a mega gathering "Namaste Trump" with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the newly built Motera Cricket Stadium. Trump later flew to Agra on the same day to visit Taj Mahal. He visited the national capital on February 25 where he held bilateral talks with Modi. One Mishall Bhathena in an RTI had sought to know from the External Affairs Ministry the total expenses incurred by the Indian ...