In a decision vehemently criticised by RTI activists,the Uttar Pradesh government has excluded the Vigilance Department from the purview of the Right to Information Act. This means citizens cannot seek information about officials being investigated for corruption,misuse of power and possessing assets disproportionate to their income. Officials said the decision had been taken because the government felt that furnishing information could be detrimental to investigation and legal proceedings. In July, the Central Vigilance Commission had appointed as many as 12 Central public information officers under RTI,said RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal. The idea was to furnish information about complaints pending with their organisation against officials of the Railways,PSU banks,insurance companies,SEBI,Union ministries,Delhi Police and other organisations. Instead of appointing a public information officer in the Vigilance Department,the state has done exactly the opposite, he said. It is an illegal,unconstitutional and most retrograde step. It is an attempt to protect the corrupt. Fateh Bahadur,the states Principal Secretary of Home and Vigilance,said the decision was taken after due diligence. I am under no obligation to give explanation to anybody, he said. Its an order issued by the state government. I cannot tell you if the decision was taken after obtaining the cabinet approval. Nutan Thakur,convenor of the National RTI Forum,a Lucknow-based organisation,said Section 24 (1) of the RTI Act empowers the Central and the state government to keep intelligence and security agencies out of the purview of the Act,but it mentions that information on allegations of corruption and human rights violations shall not be included under this sub-section. Taking Vigilance out of the Acts purview is diametrically opposed to the objectives of transparency and accountability, said Thakur. In March 2008,the state had excluded Civil Aviation Department from purview of RTI. In June 2009,14 other subjects,including the code of conduct for ministers,inquiries into complaints against ministers and MPs were also excluded.
