RAW, IB did not report RTI queries, finds CIC

NEW DELHI: Security and intelligence agencies continue to work under the veil of secrecy with minimal scrutiny from Parliament and judiciary . Nearly half of them have not bothered to disclose the number of RTI applications received in the last seven years.

About 11 or 44% of the 25 security agencies including Intelligence Bureau, RAW , National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), Aviation Research Centre among others have not reported the number of applications received or rejected information given under RTI since 2007.

In many cases, even the budget for the organization is not known. All 25 organizations are exempt from responding to RTIs except in cases of corruption and human rights violation. The organizations, however, are mandated to provide information to the Central Information Commission on the number of applications and appeals they receive.

“It is very disappointing to say the least that the 11 organizations think of themselves as being above the law of the land. Despite being exempt organizations, they have a statutory duty to submit RTI statistics to the CIC either on their own or through their parent ministry every year. However, they have not done so,'' Venkatesh Nayak from CHRI, who analyzed the data from CIC's annual report for 2013-2014, said.

The Central Bureau of Investigation, for instance, has not submitted information since 2012 while the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) had a rejection rate of 100%.

“These trends go completely against the promise of transparency and accountability made by the NDA when it came to power last year. It is strange that the highest offices of power cabinet secretariat and the PMO cannot get their own exempt organizations to report RTI data to the CIC in any year,“ Nayak said.

However, the Directorate of Income Tax (Investigation) and CRPF have reported data for some years and reduced their rejection rate.