A day after the Financial Survey referred to as for a evaluate of the 2005 Freedom of Data Act, Parliament on Friday slammed the federal government, alleging that it was planning to “kill” the legislation, which had “systematically undermined” the UPA-era legislation because it got here to energy in 2014.
The research acknowledged that the legislation was a robust democratic reform and a measure of accountability and anti-corruption, however added that it was by no means meant as an “instrument of idle curiosity” and risked changing into an “finish in itself”, the place disclosure is well known no matter its contribution to raised governance.
Whereas Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge focused the federal government, some senior ministers of the UPA-2 authorities (2009-2014) had publicly alleged that the RTI Act was being “misused” and was affecting the effectiveness and effectivity of the system. A number of corruption scandals that hit the federal government and in the end led to its lack of energy have come to mild by way of RTI disclosures.
In 2011, the problem was flagged by then legislation minister Salman Khurshid and company affairs minister M. Veerappa Moily, following an issue over a Treasury word on finance minister P. Chidambaram’s place on 2G spectrum allocation. The memo was launched by way of RTI.
request Please rethink RTI legislationKhurshid mentioned its misuse is affecting the effectiveness and effectivity of the system and even bureaucrats have gotten reluctant to file their views. He referred to as for sustaining a steadiness between transparency, accountability and institutional effectivity.
“There are secret correspondence between the minister and the prime minister, after which additional consultations happen earlier than something is introduced earlier than the cupboard. If every thing I wrote to the prime minister as a minister is revealed, what’s the level of writing a letter in secret to the prime minister? The identical goes for the correspondence between the governor and the prime minister… These points must be thought of calmly as to at what stage such paperwork will be submitted.No request will be made for paperwork underneath the RTI that are a part of the interior communication previous to the cupboard resolution.”The choice has lastly been taken,” Khurshid mentioned. indian categorical.
“There are real doubts in regards to the effectiveness and effectivity of the system. A number of hurdles are being felt as a result of fraudulent use of RTI. The governor has expressed it, the courts have expressed it as nicely. Undue inconvenience is being attributable to the misuse of the RTI Act,” Khurshid mentioned in a 2011 interview.
Moily’s stand
Mr Moily expressed an analogous place a number of days in the past, insisting that Parliament stays dedicated to transparency and accountability. Moily argued that the RTI disclosure was an “intrusion into the functioning of presidency”, noting that whereas the social gathering values transparency, RTI can’t undermine the independence of people or ministers who categorical disagreement.
Requested about his observations of the Financial Survey and Kharge’s response, Moily mentioned: indian categorical“RTI is a crucial instrument within the palms of the folks. It’s a matter of presidency to guard data and different issues. There is no such thing as a must dilute RTI for that.”
On the issues raised over a decade in the past, the veteran Congress chief mentioned, “In fact, we have to undertake some governance course of to guard it. Abolishing RTI shouldn’t be the reply. In actual fact, the Act itself must be strengthened. We must always empower the folks, not the bureaucrats. The privateness provisions
We must always not proceed what was launched by the British. Various provisions will must be made to guard the confidentiality of presidency recordsdata and authorities issues. ”
Mr Moily mentioned it was not the federal government’s “absolute proper” to withhold data from recordsdata or draft stories. “However what can and can’t be disclosed is a governance concern. It must be objectively reviewed.”
Reverse of carge
Concentrating on the federal government over the Financial Analysis Bureau’s proposal to rethink the RTI Act, Kharge posted on X, “It has additionally hinted at the potential for a ‘ministerial veto’ to withhold data, and desires to discover the potential for shielding civil servant data, transfers and employees stories from public scrutiny. The Modi authorities is systematically weakening the RTI Act.”
The Congress president mentioned that as of 2025, greater than 26,000 instances are pending. He mentioned the federal government “hacked” the RTI Act in 2019 and took management of the Data Commissioner’s tenure and wage, thereby turning the unbiased watchdog right into a submissive official.
The Financial Inquiry requires a “reexamination” of the Proper to Data Act.
It additionally hints at the potential for a “ministerial veto” to withhold data, and says it needs to think about the potential for concealing civil servant data, transfers, and employees stories. pic.twitter.com/njBRyDzroy
— Malikarjun Karge (@kharge) January 30, 2026
“The Digital Private Information Safety Act, 2023 watered down the general public curiosity provisions of RTI and weaponized privateness to guard in opposition to corruption and interference surveillance.Till final month (December 2025), the Central Data Fee was functioning with out a Chief Data Commissioner, however that is the seventh time in 11 years that this key publish has been intentionally saved vacant.Since 2014, greater than 100 RTI Activists are being killed and a terrorist scenario is being unleashed. The Whistleblower Safety Act handed by Parliament in 2014, which punishes reality seekers and eradicates dissent, has not been carried out by the BJP until date after killing MGNREGA,” Kharge mentioned.
