Why Army wants to be exempted from RTI

In its presentation, the Army has said, “Bulk of information sought so far falls in the category of personal information. Increasingly, petitioners are challenging the non-supply of information with appellate authorities and even the Central Information Commission (CIC).”

After a recent attempt by Army Headquarters to persuade the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) and Cabinet Secretary BK Chaturvedi found no sympathy from either, Army vice-chief Lt Gen S Pattabhiraman, before retiring at the end of last month, wrote to the Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) and the Chief of Integrated Staff Command (CISC) urging them to take up the service’s anxieties with the Government. Sources said his successor Lt Gen Deepak Kapoor, who has been briefed on the Army’s RTI predicament, will also take up the case.

The Army, which has been included in Schedule I of the RTI Act, basically wants to be transferred to Schedule II, which exempts it from disclosure of all information except for matters of corruption and human rights violations. So far, it has built up its case by deeming it unfair that while it is answerable to the law in full, intelligence agencies and paramilitary forces enjoy exemption and the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and DRDO have provisions extended to them.

On November 28, 2005, a month after the RTI Act came into force, the Army circulated an internal memo saying, “The COAS (Chief of Army Staff) has directed that information pertaining to individual cases would also not be released. Such cases will be taken up with the appropriate authority.” The memo was withdrawn on December 2 after it was reported in The Indian Express the previous day.