To: Shrimati Meira Kumar, Speaker of the Lok Sabha Honourable Madam Speaker, We, the people of India, urge you to use your powers and influence as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha to prevent any Bill seeking to amend the Right to Information Act (RTI Act) that has been tabled in the house on the 12th August 2013, from being put to vote in a hasty manner. Instead, we urge you to refer such an amendment Bill to a Standing Committee or a Select committee of the House to facilitate widespread public consultation on the issue. This will be in keeping with the Central Government’s assurance to the Parliament in 2009 that the RTI Act would not be amended without public consultation. The RTI Act is the crystallization of the collective aspirations of the people of India to open up closed structures of governance and bring in transparency in the working of all public authorities. As this Act embeds citizen’s Fundamental Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression under Article 19(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution, Article 13 of the Constitution prohibits Parliament from passing any law that abridges a fundamental right. Merely a debate on the amendment proposal in a plenary session, before the House votes, is not sufficient to inform the House of the diversity of views and opinions among ordinary citizens regarding the desirability of excluding political parties from the ambit of the RTI Act. India’s RTI Act is ranked second best in the world because it contains progressive provisions, which were crafted on the basis of widespread public consultations and match international best practice standards. If the Government’s amendment proposal is referred to a Standing Committee or a House Committee, a large number of citizens and organizations would be able to voice their opinion about the need for greater transparency in the working of political parties. The House ought not to deprive itself of the benefit of these views before it votes on the amendment proposal. Once again we urge you to exercise your powers and refer any proposal to amend the RTI Act that may be tabled in the Lok Sabha to a Standing Committee or a Select Committee of the House to enable widespread public consultation. Sincerely, We, the people of India
Posted on: Fri, 30 Aug 2013 06:02:55 +0000
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