COMMENTS / OBJECTIONS / SUGGESTIONS : ref:PN/DoPT/OM/2010/RTI/AAA-0000-006

To:
The Government of India, by
Shri R.K.Girdhar
Under-Secretary/RTI
Department of Personnel and Training, North Block
New Delhi 110011

1) CONFIDENTIAL,
2) SECRET,
3) My Intellectual property,
4) Not to be disclosed to any unauthorised person,
5) Not to be disclosed to any private person whatsoever,
6) Not to be disclosed to Prime Minister or his office,
7) Not to be disclosed to National Advisory Council,
8) Not to be disclosed under Right to Information except to myself,

BY EMAIL:

Date:  21-December-2010
Your Ref: OM dated 10.12.2010 in File No.1/35/2008-IR (draft RTI Rules)
Our Ref:  PN/DoPT/OM/2010/RTI/AAA-0000-006
Subject Objections and/or Suggestions to the amendments proposed

Sir,

I refer to the above citations and your subject OM. I am caused to submit the following objection(s) and/or suggestion(s) to the same.
This is separate, distinct and without prejudice to other objections I may submit from time to time within the period allowed..

http://persmin.gov.in/WriteReadData/RTI/RTI_rules_01122010-1.pdf

I OBJECT to the following proposed rules

 "2(e) "Registrar" mean officers of the Commission so designated and unless otherwise requires includes an Additional Registrar, Joint Registrar and Deputy Registrar;
(f) "Registry" means the Registry of the Commission comprising the Registrar General, Registrar, Additional Registrar, Joint Registrar or Deputy Registrar;"

for the REASON(S) / DEFECT(S)  that

(i) the setting up of a "Registry" is not provided for in the RTI Act.

(ii) it offends section 13(6) which only requires the Central Govt to provide the Chief Information Commissioner and the Information Commissioners with such officers and employees as may be necessary for the efficient performance of their functions under this Act, and the salaries and allowances payable to and the terms and conditions of service of the officers and other employees appointed for the purpose of this Act shall be such as may be prescribed.
It may be noted that by the Act the officers and employees are to be provided to the Information Commissioners in their individual capacities for "their functions" and not to the Commission as a body.

(iii) It is only open to prescribe the "salaries and allowances payable to and the terms and conditions of service" of the officers provided. In the guise of prescribing these innocuous items, the basic structure of the RTI Act cannot be destroyed by bureaucratising the Institution of the Commission and delegating/subtracting from the inherent powers of the Commission.

(iv) The functions of the Information Commissioners are already laid down in the Act. It is not open to the Central Govt to circumscribe these powers by specifying the designations and functions of staff officers to these Commissioners.

Hence I SUGGEST that these 2 sub-rules be deleted permanently,  or till such time as the  the RTI Act is amended to allow the setting up of a Registry.

Submitted in my individual capacity by

Er. Sarbajit Roy
B-59 Defence Colony
New Delhi 110024
Tel : 09311448069
email ID: "sroy.mb@gmail.com"

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