DAE not to be beyond the purview of the RTI Act
30 Aug, 2013Readers may recall the latest byte put up by us on this site “DAE requests from exemption from the RTI Act” link - http://www.rtifoundationofindia.com/dae-requests-exemption-rti-act
The proposal by Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) seeking exemption from the ambit of RTI Act through a government notification has been turned down by the Ministry of Law. Earlier, the DAE had asked the department for personnel and training (DoPT) to add its name to the schedule II which contains the list of organisation which are beyond the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The DAE had claimed that the transparency law is in conflict with its international commitments which require “strict confidentiality” and disclosure would harm the competitive position of third parties working for various organisations under DAE as their technical expertise could be compromised. It was further claimed that the Intellectual Property Rights of various companies working with DAE under collaboration was required to be protected.
The DoPT sought the opinion of the Law Ministry which has opined that such a policy change should not be carried through a government order and instead, the DAE may seek the Parliamentary approval for the same through amendments in related laws. The Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority Bill is pending in Lok Sabha, which seeks exemption from RTI for the proposed body.