Resource centre on India's rural distress
 
 

Supreme Court criticises govt for non-reply to Jairam Ramesh’s plea on changes in RTI Act

-The Hindu

Court, in Jan. 2020, asked Centre to file reply to plea, which contended that RTI Amendment Act of 2019 and its Rules cripple CIC’s objectivity, independence.

The Supreme Court on Monday criticised the Union government for having not filed a reply for over a year to a petition by parliamentarian Jairam Ramesh challenging the amendments made to the Right to Information Act.

The court, in January 2020, asked the Centre to file its reply to Mr. Ramesh’s plea that the amendments gave the government unparalleled powers to dictate the tenure, salaries and service conditions of the Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners according to its “whims and fancies”.

“The notice was issued in January, 2020! What have you been doing? The vires of the RTI Act have been challenged,” a Bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and M.R. Shah asked the government lawyers.

Please click here to read more.