http://www.centralchronicle.com/viewnews.asp?articleID=31229
The Privileges Committee of the Kerala Assembly has summoned the State's Information Commissioner and former Information Commissioner consequent to the Kerala High Court's rejection of their appeal in a case wherein they have acted upon some officials of the Kerala Assembly for not providing the CD of certain speech made in the State Assembly on a Motion of No Confidence against the UDF ministry headed by the then Congress' CM -Oommen Chandy. The State Assembly feels that the action of the State's Information Commissioner was an inroad into the powers of the Assembly. If so, then it is a matter to be decided prima facie which are the areas where the RTI cannot intrude into. Already, one appeal of the Registrar of the Supreme Court is filed in the Supreme Court itself against the Delhi High Court's decision earlier that the CJI is also under the RTI's purview. Despite the request of the CJI to the Prime Minister not to bring the SC under the RTI's purview, there are differences of opinion between the PM and the UPA Chairperson and certain amendments the UPA government earlier proposed in this regard are kept pending for the time being. Now, the action of the Kerala Assembly's Privileges Committee to summon the State's Information Commissioner too is a matter that needs urgent attention whether the State's Assemblies do not come under the RTI's purview. *RK Kutty, Bhopal Anilkumar BVN *
