A delegation of Right to Information (RTI) activists on Thursday submitted a memorandum addressed to President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan, requesting him to withhold his assent to the Right to Information (Amendment) Bill that was passed by both houses of parliament recently. Several of the activists were allegedly detained.The activists said the amendments had not been debated properly, were pushed through in a hurried manner and would harm the transparency movement by diminishing the stature of information commissions.The activists also launched a Twitter campaign – #UseRTI2SaveRTI. United under the hashtag, activists will file numerous RTI applications all over the country seeking information on relevant issues and policies of the day from the Centre and state governments. Among RTI requests that are going to be filed is one pertaining to the Unnao rape case.Also read: ‘RTI Bill Shrouded in Secrecy, How Will it Enhance Transparency?’ Ask Former CICsThe campaigners said they would keep a close watch on the performance of information commissioners, through regular audits to ensure that they do not bow down before the Centre because of the new amendment.Addressing the media after submitting the memorandum under the aegis of the National Campaign for Peoples’ Right to Information and other rights groups, activist Anjali Bhardwaj said police had stopped the 100 or so people who had tried to go to the Rashtrapati Bhavan with the request.“As many as 66 activists were detained and taken to Mandir Marg police station,” she said, calling this an attack on peoples’ right to have their voices heard. Ultimately, three activists could go into the building to hand over the memorandum.When people went to Rashtrapati Bhawan to submit petitions asking President to withhold assent to #RTIAmendment Bill, police turned up in large numbers & detained everyone. No slogans, banners or posters-we only had petitions to give at Dak counter. Is that illegal now? #SaveRTI https://t.co/GPUCKF1ej7— Anjali Bhardwaj (@AnjaliB_) August 1, 2019President’s obligationBhardwaj said the RTI (Amendment) Bill is not the only one that has not been discussed properly in the ongoing session of Parliament. “There is a 2014 policy under the RTI law on public consultation but it is not being followed. People have a basic right of participation and the right to know,” she added.The president, she said, has an obligation to protect the constitutional right to information.Stating that the amendments to the RTI Act “make the law weak,” Bhardwaj claimed that this was not a singular event but part of the Centre’s design to weaken all such institutions.“We see that this government is continuously attacking our freedom of speech and expression and attacking our right to information. We condemn these type of actions in a democracy – if this indeed is a democracy.”She added that the amendment was also an attack on ordinary people who file over 60 lakh RTI applications each year to know about issues impacting their lives. “This law empowers people and is therefore disliked by those in authority.”Cartoons representing the situation with the RTI (Amendment) Bill, in display at the NCPRI press conference on August 1. Photo: The WireSecurity for Unnao victim?Mass appeals will now be filed under the RTI Act on important issues, Bhardwaj said. “Women’s groups have framed questions on the Unnao rape case. We are asking a number of questions, the first being ‘if security was granted to the survivor where was it at the time of the alleged accident, which we see as an attempt to murder?” she said.This RTI will be filed at the office of the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.Bhardwaj also highlighted how there is no information in the public domain about the functioning of the office of the Lokpal or about what happened since the four Supreme Court judges spoke about the independence of the judiciary coming under threat.“So a number of questions will be posed, like the number of cases where advocates have requested that their matter not be placed before certain judges and the list of judges who have voluntarily declared their assets. Clarity will be sought on the selection of judges in the last three years,” she said.Also read | RTI Amendment Bill, Degree Row: Modi’s Victories Against Transparency MovementQuestions will also be posed about the number of Aadhaar accounts which have been compromised and on private services that have been given access to Aadhaar-based information, the activist said.Across all statesNikhil Dey of the National Campaign for Peoples’ Right to Information spoke about how the RTI campaign would cover all states irrespective of the parties ruling them. “So in Jaipur, questions would be asked of the Congress government on the way the bills against mob lynching and honour killings were handled. There are also pension related issues and those pertaining to mining which are being raised,” he said.He added that while the RTI application campaign has been launched in “six or seven states” to begin with on Thursday, it would gradually cover all states. RTI requests were reportedly filed in Jaipur, Bhubaneswar, Trivandrum, Pune and Mumbai among other places.Adani coal project, NRC, Rafale to figure on listDey said questions would be asked about how the Centre’s tax revenues fell short by Rs 1.65 lakh crore as pointed out in the Economic Survey. The CAG report flagging the Centre’s spending through public service units and if approvals were taken from the gram sabha for the Adani coal project in Chhattisgarh will also feature in the list of RTI requests.He said questions on the National Register for Citizens would also be asked since in his first executive order, Union home minister Amit Shah had said any district magistrate would be able to set up a foreigners tribunal.Also read: Expanding Foreigners Tribunals May Be Amit Shah’s First Step to Pushing NRC Across IndiaNoting that issues surrounding EVMs, pensions, forest rights and the Rafale deal, remain very relevant, Dey said RTI appeals would also cover these.‘Govt wishes to hide information’Dey said that the manner in which no space was allowed to discuss the RTI (Amendment) Bill, which was passed without public consultation, or without being sent to a standing or select committee, showed that the “government wanted to hide information.”“Even permission to stand outside the office of the President to submit a memorandum was denied,” he said.The results of the 100 RTIs that have been filed in solidarity on Thursday will be shared in a month, Dey said, adding that RTI requests will be filed at the beginning of every month from now on.“This is how people will know how important the right to information is. It was a movement born from the people, it is their right and it cannot be taken away,” he said.India’s former and very first chief information commissioner, Wajahat Habibullah, said the Centre was using the “fallacious argument” of the Central Information Commission not being a constitutional authority to justify the amendment proposals.“The information commissions are enforcing the constitutional right of protection of freedom of speech and expression,” he said, adding that the need of the hour was to empower the institution.
