THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A Kerala government notification exempting the chief minister, the ministers and senior bureaucrats from vigilance probe has come under severe criticism. The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau asked all information officers and appellate authorities that details or documents related to any probe against the CM, ministers, IAS and IPS officers, legislators, ex-ministers, need not be divulged under the RTI Act.
Congress state president V M Sudheeran and opposition leader V S Achuthanandan have asked CM Oommen Chandy to immediately withdraw the notification, and asked Chief Information Commissioner Siby Mathews to intervene in the matter.
So, details regarding probe into corruption cases involving the bureaucracy and political leadership are to be transferred to the “top secret section”, which has been conferred the power to not disclose information under sub-section (4) of Section 24 of RTI Act. Also, correspondence from vigilance to Central Vigilance Commission, Lokpal, Lokayukta and CBI would come under secret section.
Achuthanandan has said that at a time when the CM and his Cabinet colleagues were facing several corruption cases, the notification was meant only to hush up their deals. He added that the sub section 4 of Section 24 of the Act was applicable only for intelligence and security agencies. Chandy’s office, in a communication, said the next Cabinet meeting would discuss the issue against the backdrop of a debate that vigilance has been exempted from the purview of RTI Act.
