06 September 2013, 11:18 AM IST
At the time of writing this, the applicability of the Right to Information Act of India, 2005, on political parties, has now been referred to a Parliamentary Standing Committee for "elaborate study".
In addition, as per a news report from THE HINDU, whose Editor Siddharth Varadharajan was part of the panel on RTI and the Media on the second day of the recent convention, "the Bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 13, seeks to insert an explanation in Section 2 of the RTI Act regarding public authority. It states, "Authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted by any law made by Parliament shall not include any association or body of individuals registered or recognised as a political party under the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
The Bill has a new Section 31 in the principal Act which says the amendment will apply "notwithstanding anything contained in any judgment, decree or order of any court or commission..," and will prevail over "any other law for the time being in force."
Incidentally, both Siddharth Varadharajan of THE HINDU and Sonia Singh of NDTV, stated in no uncertain terms that they would support as well as see great benefit to the Nation from applicability of the RTI Act of India, 2005, on the Indian mainstream news media too - considering the simple truth that the mainstream media does fit into the definition of a "public authority" in many different ways.
So do NGOs, clubs, PPPs and similar. Many are fighting this in Court, including, for example, the India International Centre (IIC). I have, incidentally, lost track of the number of RTI seminars and conferences that I have attended at the IIC!
In case you were not aware, the citation judgement for definition of "public authority" from Delhi High Court is known as "Indian Olympics Association vs Veeresh Malik & others". I am very proud of this fact. Mainly because every now and then somebody threatens me because of this judgement, so I guess I must be doing something right, which is a great tribute to my teachers on this day as well as the motto of my school, FAPS, which is "Courage is Destiny".
Because.
As on date, you are hopefully aware of what has happened to the present Indian Olympics Association, who have been de-recognised, while I am still standing and writing articles, despite the many threats faced by me since filing the first RTI Application on IOA way back in 2006 by me.
Here is the link:-
http://www.indiankanoon.org/doc/465885/
if you are a public authority under this definition, then stand up and be counted, as simple as that. Because sooner or later, the Mother of all Acts, the RTI Act of India, shall catch up with your tricks. And because you owe it to the people of your country.
Which was the main thrust of what Omar Abdullah, the Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir, also said, though as he clarified, this was in his personal capacity, which is fair enough. His valedictory speech at the end of the Convention, by the way, deserves and will get a separate column - as well as a link to the speech itself if I can find it.
Amongst the most brilliant speeches I have heard in a while, and I have heard a few.
So, anyways, the first half of the second day of the convention was devoted to RTI and Corruption. Here, I am sad to say, most if not all of the speakers trotted out the same old same old snake oil, painting corruption as the sole window into India and all its woes. It is almost as though all of them want us to believe that in this day and age of globalisation, India is like a shining solitary beacon of corruption in an otherwise placid and calm ocean of great honesty.
Arre baba, there is a global demand and supply side of corruption also, and here is a small anecdotal example? Quoting "Transparency International" figures is fine and dandy, has anybody done proper research on how they get their numbers? That's one part.
Second part - painting some global tax haven city-State or some small country more famous for manufacture of chemical weapons and nuclear arms and anti-personnel mines as "highly non-corrupt" while defining the newly emerging or consuming countries of these highly non-transparent countries and their products/services as "highly corrupt" is being highly perjorative at best and highly insulting of our intelligence at worst.
Dear participants on seminars and conventions on Corruption:- there is always a demand/supply and a push/pull element in all corruption. Please take that into account when you give us your sermons.
Yes, RTI can and shall be used as a tool against corruption, in India. But the biggest benefits to accrue will be top-down, and will also be towards system change, not for collecting data of a suspect nature.
I mean, get a grip, the most important thing for RTI in India has been that now, after 8 years of fighting, we can finally pay online?
My whole war against IOA started because they refused to accept my RTI fees and did something to the 10/- note I sent which I do not even want to mention here, it was such a criminal and corrupt act.
And that is the strength of RTI. For the corruption which caused me the loss of a 10/- note, I could work to try and change the system. Top down.
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RTI Act in India, the 8th CIC convention - Part III Top-down system change
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