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President okays Right to Information Law |
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President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has okayed the landmark Right to Information Act, but has suggested to the Prime Minister that the sanctity of communications between the Head of State and Head of Government should be maintained. President Kalam has been a consistent and vocal advocate of openness and transparency in governance, but he feels that communications between the President and the Council of Ministers, including the Prime Minister should not come within the purview of the Act.
In his letter to the Prime Minister conveying his consent to the Act, he said the privileged nature of the inter-action between the President and the Council of Ministers is guaranteed by the Constitution. President Kalam urged the Prime Minister to continue with Presidential immunity and suggested to him to exclude documents in the President’s office from the proposed law. The President had given a green signal to the Act after the Rajya Sabha had sent the Bill, passed by both Houses, for the President’s assent ten days ago.
This comes in the wake of the controversy over the Nanavati Shah Commission, probing post-Godhra communal riots, seeking privileged documents pertaining to communication between the then President K.R. Narayanan and the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Rashtrapati Bhavan, in fact, refused to send the documents citing the same privilege clause.
The President has also asked the Prime Minister to consider exclusion of notings that senior bureaucrats make on files from the Act. He apparently said that these notes should remain classified and confidential so that Government officials do not feel hampered or tied down in taking crucial decisions. Kalam said that only the Centre should be allowed to frame rules under the proposed law and that State Governments should be kept out of it.
Government considering President’s suggestions
According to reports, the Manmohan Singh Government is actively considering incorporating the suggestions of the President in the Right to Information Act. In case the Government accepts the President’s suggestions, it will have to come forward with amendments in Parliament. Even though Kalam has given his assent to the Right to Information Law, it is yet to be notified by the Union Law Ministry.
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