THE WORST fears of RTI activists have come true. The government has moved to keep the CBI out of RTI purview. The excuse: national security. Ignoring provisions of Section 8 of the RTI Act that safeguards sensitive information, the government decided to give the CBI a blanket exemption. What is more shocking is the secretive manner in which this change was brought about. In March, RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal had filed four RTI petitions with the CBI demanding to know details of corruption cases involving bureaucrats and ministers. In response, the CBI decpned to give information calpng it voluminous. Agrawal then made his first appeal with the Appellate Authority of CBI in May. On 16 June, the authority refused to intervene and informed him that under a notification dated 9 June, the CBI has been removed from RTI purview. He alleges that this notification was not even made pubpc before 20 June.

Read rest of the article on Tehelka dated  02 July 2011

by