RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar ‘s letter to the Governor demanding scrapping of the notification keeping the Anti-Corruption Bureau out of the RTI Act, has worked
The sly move of the outgoing Cong-NCP government of Maharashtra of illegally keeping Anti-Corruption Bureau out of the RTI Act was dismissed by the Governor on Wednesday, a day before the swearing-in ceremony of the new BJP government on Friday.
Late in the evening, the Governor of Maharashtra, Vidyasagar Rao, used his power to scrap a curious notification issued by the outgoing Congress-NCP government. The notification was surreptitiously put up only on the Anti-Corruption Bureau’s website and not on the Maharashtra government’s website, as is the norm.
This had invited ire from RTI activists, especially those who had lodged formal complaints against powerful politicians of Maharashtra for corrupt practices. Pune-based RTI activist, Vijay Kumbhar, had shot off a letter to the Governor pointing out to him, the complete disregard to a clause in the RTI Act which makes it mandatory to provide information regarding corruption.
The press statement issued by the Raj Bhavan stated, “The Governor took the decision to withdraw the notification issued by the State Government on 6thSeptember 2014 after considering representations from various RTI activists and taking cognizance of newspaper reports which reflected the view that the notification was in violation of the RTI Act. The Governor also got the issue legally examined before taking the decision to withdraw the notification.”
An elated Kumbhar stated that, ``the state government should not have indulged in such illegality in the first place. It was clear the outgoing government wanted to save the skin of bureaucrats and politicians against whom there is enough evidence of big corruption charges. I am happy that the Governor has taken note of my letter and acted objectively and for citizens’ interest.’’
Read our earlier story: http://www.moneylife.in/article/congress-ncp-govt-removed-anti-corruption-bureau-from-rti-just-before-polls/39197.html
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