Dear Members, While Smt Sonia Gandhi might like to have Mr Wajahat as CIC and her decision is not likely to be opposed by Dr Manmohan Singh which is understandable. However, being aware of the proximity of Mr Wajahat with Smt Sonia Gandhi, why should Shri L K Advani agree to the appointment? Did he have any compelling reasons? I have not been able to understand. If someone can throw light on it. This may be useful when Mr Wajahat's successor is to be decided. Regards. Babubhai Vaghela. Ahmedabad.
---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: [email protected] Date: 11 Jul 2009 08:41:28 -0000 Subject: [rti_india] Digest Number 862 To: [email protected] RTI Right to Information India Messages In This Digest (3 Messages) 1. The secret life of Mr Wajahat Habibullah From: sroy1947 2. Letters of support by parties to be under RTI ambit: CIC From: sroy1947 3. CIA controls the CIC ? From: sroy1947 View All Topics | Create New Topic Messages 1. The secret life of Mr Wajahat Habibullah Posted by: "sroy1947" [email protected] sroy1947 Fri Jul 10, 2009 10:14 pm (PDT) Now we all know that for the past 4 years Mr H has been C'IC. It therefore came as a surprise to some people (mainly citizens hopeful that he would dispose of the RTI Appeals and Complaints rapidly) that all the while Mr H has been using Govt monies to write his reminences of "My" Jammu and Kashmir which were published (republished ??) by a Lahore based publisher in 2009. http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\07\05\story_5-7-2009_pg3_5 "Wajahat Habibullah's view is important because he served as a civil servant in Jammu & Kashmir when it was going through the throes of the insurrection starting 1990. He was the only Muslim in that year's batch of the Indian Administrative Service, a branch of the All India Services, and the ruling chief minister happened to be a friend of his father's, which became "the subject of some conjecture in the press gossip"." So by his own admission Mr H joined the IAS because his father was a friend of the Chief Minister. In another apparent admission (see link below pertaining to Mr Milap Choraria's RTI) it also appears that he is the C'IC only because of his association with Sonia Gandhi. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Sonia-Gandhi--s-case-transferred-to-division-bench-of-CIC/477850 "The move follows a decision of the Chief Information Commissioner to withdraw himself from the case because of his proximity to Gandhi. Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah who was hearing the case decided to transfer it to a Division Bench because of his association with Sonia Gandhi -- he worked as secretary of Rajiv Gandhi Foundation under her Chairmanship. " The citizens of India hope that such high ethical standards extend to everybody in the CIC. Sarbajit Back to top Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post Messages in this topic (1) 2. Letters of support by parties to be under RTI ambit: CIC Posted by: "sroy1947" [email protected] sroy1947 Fri Jul 10, 2009 10:15 pm (PDT) http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/letterssupport-by-parties-to-be-under-rti-ambit-cic/66879/on Letters of support by political parties given to the president pledging their support for forming a government at the Centre has been brought under the ambit of Right to Information by the CIC. In a recent decision, the Central Information Commission held that the information provided to the president by various political parties cannot be treated as one emanating from "fiduciary relationship" and thus cannot be denied under the Act. Exercising his Right to Information, Kerala-based advocate T Asaf Ali, in 2007, had asked for a copy of letters given by CPI-M, DMK, RJD and other coalition partners of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) to then President APJ Abdul Kalam extending support to Congress leader Manmohan Singh for forming a government at the Centre. The information was, however, denied by the CPIO. "... These letters were given under fiduciary relationship between the authors of their letter and the president, therefore they come under Section 8(e) of the Right to Information Act," Nitin Wakankar said in response to the RTI query. After being denied information from the First Appellate Authority at the President's Secretariat, Ali filed his second appeal before the CIC. Hearing the appeal, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah held "To come within the ambit of Fiduciary Relationship, trust becomes an inalienable component...The information provided by various political parties cannot be treated as one emanating from Fiduciary Relationship and that makes Section 8 (1)(e) inapplicable..." Habibullah also directed the CPIO to provide the information to the applicant within 15 days. According to Section 8(1)(e) of the RTI Act: "information available to a person in his fiduciary relationship, unless the competent authority is satisfied that the larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information." "Political parties are independent entities and have a juristic personality of their own. They have no official dealing with the President of India nor do they interact with the President or the President interacts with them in the decision making process. "... The President has acted on the letters submitted by them (political parties) and the power of the President to act upon such letters is discretionary. Hence, the argument that the letters of supporting UPA government by political parties to the President is in a fiduciary capacity is far fetched," Habibullah said in his order. He further agreed to the appellant's argument that the authors of these letters have themselves disclosed the content of these letters to the media hence secrecy or fiduciary relationship is not involved. Back to top Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post Messages in this topic (1) 3. CIA controls the CIC ? Posted by: "sroy1947" [email protected] sroy1947 Fri Jul 10, 2009 10:24 pm (PDT) Whose law governs the territories of India ? In a bizarre order Mr Habibullah (previously accused on this group of being a CIA agent) has ignored (deliberately or through sheer incompetence) the entire body of law evolved by the Supreme Court of India on PRIVACY. The principles of leading cases such as "Gobind", "Patient X versus Hospital Y" etc etc have been discarded at one fell swoop. Instead Mr H "picked up the definition from the US Restatement of the Law on Torts." to regret that "we do not have a law of privacy in India. There's no definition of 'invasion of privacy' in the RTI Act." http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_privacy-defined-to-check-invasion_1265607 Back to top Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post Messages in this topic (1) Recent Activity 2 New Members Visit Your Group Yahoo! Finance It's Now Personal Guides, news, advice & more. Search Ads Get new customers. List your web site in Yahoo! Search. Health Groups for people over 40 Join people who are staying in shape. Need to Reply? Click one of the "Reply" links to respond to a specific message in the Daily Digest. 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