RTI Amendment Bill,2019

Amendments:

• The Bill primarily amends Sections 13 and 16 of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005.
• The Centre shall have the powers to set the salaries and service conditions of Information Commissioners at central as well as state levels.
• Term of the central Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners: appointment will be “for such term as may be prescribed by the Central Government”.

Reasons for opposition:

• The terms of appointment, salaries and tenures of the Chief Information Commissioners and Information Commissioners can be decided on a case-to-case basis by the government. This will take away the independence of the RTI authorities.
• By diminishing the status of the CIC, IC and State CIC from that of a Supreme Court judge would reduce their ability to issue directives to senior government functionaries.
• The amendments would empower the Centre to make rules to decide the tenure, salary, allowances and other terms of service of information commissioners of the Central and also State Information Commissions.
• This will fundamentally weaken the institution of the information commissions as it will adversely impact the ability of commissioners to function in an independent manner.
• The separation of powers is a concept which underscores independence and is vital to India’s democratic checks and balances.
• The Commission which is vested by law with status, independence and authority, will now function like a department of the Central government.
• When power is centralised and the freedom of expression threatened, it affects the fundamental federal fabric.
• The government has brought about the Bill in complete secrecy and there have been no public consultations on the Bill, which will impact the fundamental right to information of the citizens of the country.

Government’s rationale:

• The mandate of Election Commission of India and Central and State Information Commissions are different. Hence, their status and service conditions need to be rationalised accordingly.
• The Central Information Commissioner has been given the status of a Supreme Court judge. But, his judgments can be challenged in the High Courts, which is inconsistent.
• Besides, the RTI Act did not give the government rule-making powers, which the amendment proposes to correct.

Measures needed to strengthen RTI:

1. Reduce pendency: 
   • Government could take steps to reduce pending appeals.
   • In June 2019, about 31,000 appeals were pending, over 9,000 of those pending for over a year.
   • Currently, four out of the ten positions of information commissioners are vacant.
2. Prune the exemption list: 
   • According to an RTI ratings report by the Canada-based Centre for Law and Democracy, India’s rank slipped from second position in 2011 to eighth in 2018.
   • In its current form, Section 8 of the RTI Act lists ten exemptions, ranging from any information that may
     • hurt national security,
     • impede the process of ongoing investigations to cabinet papers,
     • deliberations of the council of ministers.

These must be reduced.

• Protect whistle-blowers: 
  • According to a tracker of assaults on RTI activists set up by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI),
    1. 84 RTI activists have been murdered since 2005 for seeking information on illegal construction, alleged scams in social welfare schemes, and corruption in panchayats.
    2. While seven activists have committed suicide,
    3. more than 350 have either faced assault or harassment.

Starting with timely and effective investigation, India needs to put in place long-term measures to prevent these assaults

• CIC as a constitutional body.
• Political parties under RTI.

Way forward:

• 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.
• So when power is centralised, the freedom of expression is threatened which can lead to the decline of democracy.

Conclusion:

RTI Act has transparency, accountability and participation as its mandate and is considered equally important legal document after the Constitution. There is a necessity to undertake the measures to strengthen this powerful tool that can deliver significant social benefits.