CS seeking to shut down RTI Act, charges FGG

Forum for Good Governance (FGG) on Thursday urged Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan to instruct Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar to withdraw the recent order which seeks to prevent Public Information Offic

Forum for Good Governance (FGG) on Thursday urged Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan to instruct Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar to withdraw the recent order which seeks to prevent Public Information Officers (PIOs) from providing any information to the public under the RTI Act.

In a communication to the Governor, a copy of which was released to the media, FGG secretary M. Padmanabha Reddy informed her that CS under the pretext of certain officers furnishing information in a “routine manner and without proper verification” had sought to put curbs in the information flow, but this would only result in “closing down the RTI Act”.

If some officers are giving information in a ‘routine manner’, they should be trained but their “independence and discretionary powers” cannot be taken away as it goes against the spirit of the RTI Act. Even the Supreme Court had upheld these powers of the PIOs and hence, the CS cannot meddle with an Act passed by Parliament, maintained the secretary