Relevance : GS Paper II
Theme of the article
The Right to Information (Amendment) Bill is a twin attack on accountability and the idea of federalism.
Introduction
“Amendments” have haunted the Right to Information (RTI) community ever since the RTI Act came into effect almost 14 years ago.
The recent amendment
- The recently proposed amendments seek to amend Sections 13, 16, and 27 of the RTI Act which carefully links, and thereby equates, the status of the Central Information Commissioners (CICs) with the Election Commissioners and the State Information Commissioners with the Chief Secretary in the States, so that they can function in an independent and effective manner.
- The deliberate dismantling of this architecture empowers the Central government to unilaterally decide the tenure, salary, allowances and other terms of service of Information Commissioners, both at the Centre and the States.
Why is there unseemly haste and determination to amend the law?
- Some feel that it is because the RTI helped with the cross-verification of the affidavits of powerful electoral candidates with official documents and certain Information Commissioners having ruled in favour of disclosure.
- The information related to decision-making at the highest level has in most cases eventually been accessed because of the independence and high status of the Information Commission. That is what the government is trying to amend.
Agent of change
- RTI is a constant challenge to the misuse of power. In a country where the rule of law hangs by a slender thread and corruption and the arbitrary use of power is a daily norm, the RTI has resulted in a fundamental shift — empowering a citizen’s access to power and decision-making.
- It has been a lifeline for many of the 40 to 60 lakh ordinary users, many of them for survival.
- It has also been a threat to arbitrariness, privilege, and corrupt governance.
- More than 80 RTI users have been murdered because their courage and determination using the RTI was a challenge to unaccountable power.
- The RTI has been used brilliantly and persistently to ask a million questions across the spectrum — from the village ration shop, the Reserve Bank of India, the Finance Ministry, on demonetisation, non-performing assets, the Rafale fighter aircraft deal, electoral bonds, unemployment figures, the appointment of the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC), Election Commissioners, and the (non)-appointment of the Information Commissioners themselves.
RTI and democracy
- The RTI movement has been able to access information and through it, a share of governance and democratic power.
- The Indian RTI law has been a breakthrough in creating mechanisms and platforms for the practice of continual public vigilance that are fundamental to democratic citizenship.
- The mostly unequal struggle to extract information from vested interests in government needed an institutional and legal mechanism which would not only be independent but also function with a transparency mandate and be empowered to over-ride the traditional structures of secrecy and exclusive control.
Independence of Information Commission
- An independent Information Commission which is the highest authority on information along with the powers to penalise errant officials has been a cornerstone of India’s celebrated RTI legislation.
- The task of the Information Commission is different but no less important than that of the Election Commission of India.
- Independent structures set up to regulate and monitor the government are vital to a democratic state committed to deliver justice and constitutional guarantees.
- The separation of powers is a concept which underscores this independence and is vital to our democratic checks and balances.
- When power is centralised and the freedom of expression threatened no matter what the context, democracy is definitely in peril.
- The Commission which is vested by law with status, independence and authority, will now function like a department of the Central government, and be subject to the same hierarchy and demand for obeisance.
- The decision of the government to usurp the powers to set the terms and conditions of service and salaries of an independent body must be understood as an obvious attempt to weaken the independence and authority granted by the law.
Assault on federalism
Apart from Section 13 which deals with the terms and conditions for the Central information Commission, in amending Section 16, the Central government will also control through rules, the terms and conditions of appointment of Commissioners in the States. This is an assault on the idea of federalism.
Opaque moves
- All the provisions related to appointment were carefully examined by a parliamentary standing committee and the law was passed unanimously.
- The manner in which the amendments are being pushed through without any citizen consultation, bypassing examination by the standing committee demonstrates the desperation to pass the amendments without even proper parliamentary scrutiny.
- The mandatory pre-legislative consultative policy of the government has been ignored.
Conclusion
The amendments fundamentally weaken an important part of the RTI architecture. They violate the constitutional principles of federalism, undermine the independence of Information Commissions, and thereby significantly dilute the widely used framework for transparency in India. The RTI has unshackled millions of users who will continue to use this democratic right creatively and to dismantle exclusive power.
