Should information about the recommendations made by the Lokayukta be disclosed?
25 Feb, 2014An application was filed by the RTI activist Ajay Dubey seeking details of recommendations made to the government by the Madhya Pradesh Special Police Establishment (also known as Lokayukta) chief and other officials after their foreign visit last year. The lokayukta office has refused to disclose information about the recommendations made by its officials on the basis of foreign tours conducted by them. Vide a notification issued on August 25, 2011, the Madhya Pradesh government had exempted the Special Police Establishment and Economic Offences Wing (EOW) from the purview of Right to Information (RTI) Act. The Lokayukta has been placed beyond the purview of the RTI Act by virtue of Section 24 of the Act. The anti-corruption organisation has informed that Rs. 6.24 lakhs were spent on domestic and foreign tours of the Lokayukta and its officials last year.
Dubey has claimed that only 'Lokayukta Police', which is also known as Madhya Pradesh Special Police Establishment, is exempt from providing information, not the office of the 'Lokayukta' and has moved to the Madhya Pradesh High Court against the government's notification exempting the two organisations which deal with corruption cases.