On 5/3/11, M.K. Gupta <
mkgupta100@yahoo.co.in> wrote:
> Cabinet note not secret: Info panel
> Maha Watchdog Overrules itself.
>
> MUMBAI: A cabinet note on the basis of which a council of minister takes a
> decision and subsequently passes a government
> resolution is not confidential and anyone can have access to a copy of it
> under the RTI Act.
> The verdict was passed on Friday by a full bench of the Maharashtra
> information commission, presided over by chief information commissioner
> Vilas Patil. The new decree overrules Vikas Patil's predecessor Suresh
> Joshi's ruling in 2006 that said a cabinet note was a confidential document
> and a citizen could not get access to it by applying under the Right To
> Information Act.
> The latest decision was arrived at after a much deliberation, with Vilas
> Patil, his Aurungabad counterpart D B Deshpande, Amravati information
> commissioner Bhaskar Patil and Nagpur information chief P W Patil
> maintaining that the note should not be kept secret. However, Navi Mumbai
> info chief Navinkumar and his Nashik counterpart M H Shah tried to argue it
> should not be made public.
> The view of the majority prevailed and it was decided that an RTI applicant
> is eligible to obtain a copy of the cabinet note, an official told TOI on
> Saturday.
> The issue was raised after a resident, Archana Gawda, in 2007, filed a query
> under the RTI Act, seeking a copy of the cabinet note of the repeal of the
> Urban Land Ceiling Act and the states decision on the proposal. The general
> administration department, however, refused to send her a copy saying,
> according to the rules of business and provisions of the RTI Act, a cabinet
> note was confidential and hence out of RTI purview.
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