RAKESH GUPTA
Sat, 06 Dec 2008 22:24:51 -0800
it is from the date of notification. secondly notificationis for Director General of Income Tax - Investigation. Therefore it restrict to DGIT(Invet) only. i.e. this notification is not applicable Director ogf Income Tax (Invest) with whom , most of the information are rest. with regards rakesh gupta
--- On Sun, 7/12/08, C K Jam <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: From: C K Jam <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [rti_india] From what date does exemption under Sec 24 become applicable ? To: rti_india@yahoogroups.com Date: Sunday, 7 December, 2008, 9:28 AM In the month of September 2008, IC ANT passed several orders related to matters in Second Appeal where the PA was Director General of Income Tax - Investigation (DGIT). All the Second Appeals were turned down with the argument that DGIT was under the Second Schedule (Sec 24) since 27 March 2008. This is inspite of the fact that the RTI applications were filed well before that date as well as the Second Appeals reached the CIC well before the Gazette date. One such order is: http://cic.gov.in/CIC-Orders/AT-21072008-06.pdf Quote: On considering all the pleas in this matter, it is noted that the exemption to a public authority under Section 24 of the RTI Act, read with its Second Schedule, becomes effective in respect of all pending matters ¯ whether original, or in appeal ¯ from the date the exemption became applicable, which in this case is 27.03.2008. If these appeals are processed as if the exemption was never granted to DGIT (Investigation) ¯ as demanded by appellant¯ then it might result in a somewhat odd result i.e. information being authorized to be disclosed in respect of an organization, which is known to be exempt from the purview of the RTI Act. There is merit in the argument of the respondents that if an information related to the DGIT (Investigation) was undisclosed on the date the exemption to DGIT(Investigation) under Section 24 came into force, i.e. 27.03.2008, the information cannot be allowed to be disclosed merely on the ground that the applicant¢s RTI-request for disclosure of information relating to DGIT(Investigation) was made prior to the crucial date. All undisclosed information ¯ whether part of an ongoing proceeding, or new proceeding ¯ will come within the exemption granted to the public authority, i.e. DGIT (Investigation). The information, therefore, cannot be authorized to be disclosed under Section 24 read with Second Schedule of the RTI Act. Unquote (Other orders are just copies of this or refer to this particular order) Recently, another matter came up before CIC W Habibullah concerning National Security Council Secretariat. This PA is also under Sec 24 vide Gazette notification dated 8th October 2008. And his order is: http://cic.gov.in/CIC-Orders/WB-03122008-01.pdf Quote: However, with regard to the National Security Council, we find that their plea that they are a public authority excluded from coverage of the RTI by the Gazette notification cited above, we find that the Notification is dated 8.10.¢08. The NSCS was therefore not listed in the Second Schedule on the date that appellant Gen. Singh had moved his application under RTI. Unquote My queries are: 1. What is the correct position regarding RTI applications filed before the notification date ? 2. What happens if even the Second Appeal is made to the CIC/SIC long before the notification date and it was no fault of the applicant that the hearing was pending at the CIC/SIC for a long time ? 3. If the Government of the day finds that divulging any information under RTI is "inconvenient", it will just notify that particular PA under Sec 24 and get a easy escape route ? 4. What is the correct legal position regarding the dates ? 5. What is the time limit for laying the notification under Sec 24(3), before each House of Parliament ? PS: By the way, where is this Gazette notification regarding NSCS dated 08 October 2008 ? It does not seem to be available anywhere. RTIwanted [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links Add more friends to your messenger and enjoy! Go to http://messenger.yahoo.com/invite/ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]