Right To Information

Four state information commissions defunct with no commissioners: Report

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

SC seeks response from 11 states on plea asking setting up of RTI portals

The Supreme Court has sought responses from 11 states, including Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand, on a plea alleging that they are yet to set up Right to Information (RTI) portals under the transparency law in pursuance of a 2023 judgment. In the landmark judgment, the top court had on March 20 last year directed all states, Union territories and high courts to set up RTI websites within three months, saying the online facilities would considerably facilitate the fulfilment of the objects of the Right to Information Act, 2005. On Monday, a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice J B Pardiwala took note of the submissions of a lawyer, representing petitioner Anuj Nakade, that as many as 11 states have not set up their RTI websites. "Counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner states that the following states and Union territories have yet to comply with the judgment of this court dated 20 March 2023 requiring the setting up of online RTI portals: Andhra Pradesh, ...

27 Supreme Court judges declare assets, but no public access to details yet

Until a few months ago, asset declarations of 55 former Supreme Court judges were publicly available, however, these declarations have since been removed from the public domain

Lokpal forms inquiry wing to probe graft cases against public servants

Over a decade after a law governing it was passed, anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal has constituted an inquiry wing for conducting preliminary probe into graft-related offences committed by public servants. The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act 2013 (Act of 2013) came into force on January 1, 2014, when it received assent of the President. However, it began functioning only on March 27, 2019, following the appointment of its chairperson and members. To discharge its statutory functions, Section 11 of the Act obligates the Lokpal to constitute an inquiry wing for the purpose of conducting preliminary inquiry into any offence punishable under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, alleged to have been committed by the specified public servants and functionaries. The full bench of Lokpal, in its meeting held on August 30, 2024, has decided to constitute an inquiry wing of the Lokpal, according to an official order. Lokpal chairperson has been authorised to commence the selection process for

Vande Bharat average speed down from 84 to 76 kmph in 3 years: RTI response

The average speed of Vande Bharat trains has decreased from 84.48 kmph in 2020-21 to 76.25 kmph in 2023-24, the railway ministry said in a response to an RTI query. Railway officials said not only Vande Bharats but many other trains are also maintaining cautionary speed at places were "huge infrastructural work" is underway. "Besides this, some Vande Bharat trains have been launched in difficult terrain areas where there are speed restrictions due to geographical reasons or extreme weather conditions," a railway official said. Citing the example of the Vande Bharat train between Mumbai CSMT and Madgaon, an official of the Central Railway Zone said, "Most of the Konkan railway area is 'ghat' section where trains pass through low height mountain ranges. It is a difficult terrain area where increasing speed could compromise safety." "Things become very challenging during the monsoon season when we have to keep the maximum speed for all trains at 75 kmph," he added. The RTI applicant

Electoral bonds used as bribe by companies for contracts: Prashant Bhushan

Lawyer Prashant Bhushan on Saturday labelled the electoral bonds as the biggest scam in the history of Indian democracy and alleged that they were used as bribes for contracts, shielding people from central probe agencies, manipulating policies, and influencing drug regulators. He said the Supreme Court will soon commence hearing on a petition filed before it seeking a probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into alleged quid pro quo arrangements between corporates and political parties. "The electoral bonds were used (by companies) as bribes to get contracts, to protect themselves from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the CBI and to save themselves from drug regulators," Bhushan said. Out of the Rs 16,500-crore electoral bonds, half went to the BJP and the rest to parties like the TMC and the Congress. However, those who were not ruling did not get any money, he said. "I see that Rs 5,000-crore worth of electoral bonds were issued, resulting in the sanctioning of contracts

Katchatheevu row: Why 2015 & 2024 RTI replies 'different'? asks Oppn leader

Katchatheevu row: Shiv Sena (Uddhav camp) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi on Monday demanded the MEA to explain the "discrepancies" in the two RTI responses

41 companies facing probe by central agencies in electoral bond list

Forty-one companies facing probe by the CBI, ED and the I-T Department gave Rs 2,471 crore to the BJP through electoral bonds, and Rs 1,698 crore of it was donated after raids by these agencies, civil society activists who challenged the poll funding scheme in the Supreme Court claimed on Friday. Addressing the media after the Election Commission made public a fresh data set of electoral bonds, senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, who appeared for the petitioners in the court, said at least 30 shell companies purchased electoral bonds worth over Rs 143 crore. He said 33 groups which have got 172 major contracts and project approvals from the government also made donations through electoral bonds. "They have got a total of Rs 3.7 lakh crore in projects and contracts, in exchange for Rs 1,751 crore electoral bond donations to the BJP," he alleged. Bhushan also claimed that 41 companies which faced raids by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the .

BJP biggest beneficiary of Aurobindo Pharma's Rs 52 cr electoral bonds

Aurobindo Pharma, one of whose directors was arrested in the Delhi liquor scam, had bought electoral bonds for a total of Rs 52 crore with more than half of it going to the Bharatiya Janata Party, according to data released by the Election Commission. The Hyderabad-based firm had purchased electoral bonds between April 3, 2021 to November 8, 2023 and Rs 34.5 crore was donated to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rs 15 crore to the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), and Rs 2.5 crore to the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). The drug maker purchased electoral bonds worth Rs 5 crore on November 15, 2022 five days after one of its directors, P Sarath Chandra Reddy was arrested for involvement in money laundering linked to the controversial Delhi excise policy, which has been scrapped. Comments from the company could not be obtained. As per the Election Commission data, BJP encashed this sum on November 21, 2022. Last year in June, Reddy turned approver in the case after a Delhi court allowed him to

Bharti Airtel, subsidiary donated Rs 234 cr to BJP via electoral bonds

Bharti Airtel and its subsidiary Bharti Telemedia bought around Rs 235 crore of electoral bonds and donated all but about Rs 1 crore to the ruling BJP, according to data released by the Election Commission. Bharti Airtel donated nearly Rs 197.5 crore to BJP, Rs 50 lakh to J&K National Conference, and Rs 10 lakh to Rashtriya Janata Dal. Bharti Telemedia, which is a subsidiary of the Sunil Mittal-led telecom firm Bharti Airtel, donated bonds worth Rs 37 crore to BJP, the data showed. In all, the two Bharti Group entities donated about Rs 234 crore to BJP, via electoral bonds. A mail sent to Bharti Airtel for comments did not elicit a response. Meanwhile, in a sharp contrast to big corporate houses that gave large sums to political parties, IT companies in India donated just around Rs 15 crore to various political parties through electoral bonds, as per the data. In the IT pack, Cyient contributed the most - donating Rs 10 crore to BJP, while Zensar Technologies contributed Rs 3 ...

Gaps remain in electoral bond information despite additional disclosures

The Election Commission of India is set to release information on serial numbers enabling matching of donors with the parties to which they donated money

Indian Railways earned Rs 1,229 cr from cancelled waiting list tickets

Between 2021 and January 2024, more than 128 million waiting list tickets were cancelled

ED exempted from RTI but can inform on human right violations: Delhi HC

The Enforcement Directorate is exempted from the scope of the Right to Information (RTI) Act but it can be directed to supply information concerning human rights violations, which includes allegations of sexual harassment, the Delhi High Court has held. The court passed the order while dealing with two petitions by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) challenging two orders of the Central Information Commission (CIC) directing disclosure of certain information to RTI applicants. While one of the applicants sought administrative information pertaining to recruitment rules, the other -- a legal adviser to the ED--wanted information related to allegations of sexual harassment made by her. Justice Prathiba M Singh set aside the CIC order passed in the first instance but directed the agency to disclose the information sought by the RTI Applicant in the second case within eight weeks. "The ED is exempted under Section 24 of the RTI Act, 2005 from disclosing the said information (on recruitme

Karnataka HC overturns wife's RTI request to access husband's Aadhaar info

'Marriage does not eclipse the right to privacy which is the right of an individual and the autonomy of such individual's right stands recognised and protected,' stated the Court

2005 law on RTI will become 'dead letter': SC asks Centre to fill vacancies

Here's a lowdown on the important cases heard in the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court today

Fadnavis took action on 114,000 letters in 11 mths: Reply to RTI question

RTI activist Anil Galgali sought details on the action taken by the office of Maharashtra DCM Devendra Fadnavis regarding letters received from ordinary citizens, VIPs and government officials

RTI in politics

Bringing political parties within the fold of law will not help

Kerala govt launches online portal for RTI application after SC's directive

People in Kerala no longer need to stand in queues to submit applications or send requests by post for information under the transparency law and can have access to it from the comforts of their homes thanks to the state government launching an online RTI portal following a Supreme Court directive. Prior to the launch of the portal on June 19, an application under the transparency law -- the Right to Information Act -- had to be either submitted in person before the concerned department or authority along with the requisite fees or sent by post. This was also necessitated by the fact that an online RTI portal implemented by the state government with the help of the IT Mission earlier was non-functional due to technical difficulties. Therefore, the new portal, developed with the help of the National Informatics Centre (NIC) is expected to make the access to information easier and more transparent. "The payment for the fees on the RTI online portal will be through e-Treasury Portal,"

Denial of RTI to non-citizens against the spirit of Constitution: Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court has held that both Indian citizens and non-citizens have access to the Right to Information (RTI), and to restrict that to non-citizens would be against both the RTI Act

RBI rejects RTI seeking information on its correspondence with govt

The report mentioned the debate on disclosure of the RBI's failure to meet the flexible retail inflation target of 2-6% for three straight quarters between January and September