Gujarat turns down RTI query on Lokayukta appointment

MUMBAI: Narendra Modi-led Gujarat government is not willing to disclose how much it spent challenging the power to appoint a Lokayukta by Governor Kamla Beniwal. However, it is ready to show the files containing the information.

Mumbai-based activist Anil Galgali had sought to know from the Gujarat government under the Right to Information Act how much expenses the state had incurred in hiring lawyers while challenging Beniwal’s decision to appoint a Lokayukta, first in the Gujarat High Court and then in the Supreme Court. The government lost the case in both the courts.

Galgali’s query was sent to the Deputy secretary and Public Information officer of the Law Department DA Vora by the General Adminstration Department’s public information officer Ashok Dave. Vora didn’t provide the information and instead wrote back to Dave saying, "The law offices fees is paid according to Law Officer Rules 2009 and the expenses incurred by the Government is maintained by the GAD."

In a separate letter to Galgali, Vora said the case-wise information cannot be provided to him, but the activist could come to Gujarat and ‘inspect’ the files containing the information. "I had heard a lot about Modi speaking about transparency in administration. It was a simple query about how much money the government has spent on hiring lawyers against the decision of Kamla Beniwal. Yet surprisingly the Modi government is not ready to reveal it," said Galgali.

He added that the reply of the Gujarat government was against the RTI Act. "How can they ask people to come over to their state and look at the papers? They are supposed to provide it by post. Obviously there is something to hide."

The activist says that he would approach the state Information Commissioner and if possible would go to Gujarat to see the papers. Gujarat government spokesperson Nitin Patel was not available for comments at the time of going to press.