Dear All,
You may have read my previous email alerts about a recent judgement in the matter of Namit Sharma v Union of India [WP(Civil) No. 210 of 2012] where the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India issued several directions for constituting benches of Information Commissions appointed under India's Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act). These directions include giving preference for candidates with judicial training and experience for appointment as first appellate authorities and members of the Information Commissions, reserving the post of Chief Information Commissioners to serving or retired judges of the Supreme Court or Chief Justices of the High Court and adopting time bound and transparent processes for appointing members of the Information Commissions. Many civil society actors and citizens discussed and debated these directions publicly. This judgement found mention on several occasions at the 7th Annual RTI Convention organised by the Central Information Commission last week. The Minister of State for Personnel, Mr. V Narayanasamy categorically stated at the valedictory session that the Government was committed to implementing the RTI Act in its current form and would not allow dilution of the RTI Act.
On October 11th reports appeared in the print and electronic media that the Government of India had sought a review of the Namit Sharma judgement. After a considerable amount of hunting around and making informal requests to various sources, I have managed to obtain a scanned copy of the review petition that the Government of India filed with the Supreme Court. The source has requested anonymity and I will respect that request. When a young lawyer friend of mine checked up with the Registry of the Apex Court about the status of this case, he was able to get the diary number for this matter: 34018 of 2012 Union of India v Namit Sharma. Advocate B V Balramdas is said to have filed this petition. The Supreme Court's website states that the petition is under scrutiny. No daily orders have been issued yet. My lawyer friend found out from the Registry that the process of curing the defects in the petition is underway. However he could not obtain a copy of the petition itself.
If the contents of the attachment to this mail are indeed what has been filed before the Registry of the Apex Court the narrative makes for very interesting reading. Paras ‘xvii’ – ‘xxii’ narrate the haste with which the Court took up this matter. Paras ‘T’ and ‘U’ in the Grounds section of the review petition indicate how the arguments and contentions filed by the Central Government do not find any mention in the judgement. All in all the review petition seems to cover most of the grounds that we have been identifying as problem areas in the judgement. The prayers leave much to be desired. I would leave it to our lawyer friends to tell us whether more specific prayers could have been added.
I must clarify that I have circulated this attachment in ‘good faith’ as citizens of India have the right to know what the Central Government is doing in this matter. I request readers to contact the Registry of the Supreme Court to ascertain the veracity of the contents of the attachment. I assume no responsibility for the authenticity of its contents.
While the Indian Constitution vests in the higher judiciary (High Courts and the Apex Court) the duty and responsibility of being the custodian of fundamental right, ironically it is the executive which seems to be playing the role of the defender of people's RTI in this case.
I strongly believe we should all demand that this review petition be heard in open court so that all of us who would like our RTI protected and strengthened have the opportunity to voice our views. We are all stakeholders when it comes to fundamental rights and emphatically so when our RTI is at stake.
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Thanks
Sincerely,
Venkatesh Nayak
Programme Coordinator
Access to Information Programme
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative
B-117, First Floor, Sarvodaya Enclave
New Delhi- 110 017
Tel: +91-11-43180215/ 43180201
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Skype: venkatesh.nayak@skype.com
Alternate Email: nayak.venkatesh@gmail.com
Website: www.humanrightsinitiative.org