Bill to amend RTI tabled in LS amid Oppn protest

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 19

The Centre today introduced in the Lok Sabha a Bill to amend the RTI Act, even as Opposition parties, including the Congress, staged a walkout in protest against the proposed changes.

The Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2019, seeks to take away the stature of information commissioners from equivalent to election commissioners besides giving the Centre the power to fix their salaries and service conditions. 

Introducing the Bill, Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh said it would strengthen the overall RTI structure. Opposition parties, however, opposed the amendments, saying it would weaken  panels.

Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the draft law was a threat to independence of Central Information Commissioner (CIC). Shashi Tharoor of the Congress called it “RTI elimination bill”.

AIMIM member Asaduddin Owaisi sought a division of votes, following which Congress and TMC members walked out. The division of votes saw 224 votes in its favour and nine against it.

According to the Bill, the term of offices, salaries, allowances and other terms and conditions will be “as prescribed by the Central Government”. At present, salaries, allowances and other terms and conditions of the service of the Chief Information Commissioner are same as that of the Chief Election Commissioner while that of an information commissioner are same as that of an election commissioner.

The Centre’s argument is that functions being carried out by the EC are “totally different” from information commissions.

A statement of objects and reasons attached to the Bill states while the Election Commission is a Constitutional body, the information commissions are statutory bodies, and that their differing mandates mean that “their status and service conditions need to be rationalised accordingly”.

The Chief Election Commissioner and election commissioners have salaries of a Supreme Court judge that brings the Chief Information Commissioner and information commissioners on a par with SC judges. However, functions being carried out by the Election Commission of India and the central and state information commissions are totally different.

It proposes...

• To lower the stature of information commissioners, which is, at present, equivalent to that of election commissioners
• To give the Central Government the power to fix their salaries, service conditions 

The argument

• Functions being carried out by the Election Commission are "totally different" from information commissions
• While the EC is a Constitutional body, information panels are statutory bodies
• Their differing mandates mean ‘their status and service conditions need to be rationalised accordingly’