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With almost 6 million RTI applications filed every year, India’s Right to Information Act is the world’s most extensively used transparency legislation. However, the government’s proposed amendments to the RTI Act threaten the very foundations of this empowering law.
Attempt to dilute the Act
In April 2017 the government put out a set of Draft Rules proposing amendments to the RTI Act. They include permitting the withdrawal of appeals based on a written communication by the appellant and the closure of an RTI query upon the death of the appellant. This means information seekers could be browbeaten into withdrawing applications. Also, if
