Asset details not to be disclosed under RTI
17 Aug, 2012The office of Karnataka Lokayukta has rejected all applications under the Right to Information (RTI) Act which sought details of assets of MLAs and MLCs. The basis for such rejection is a High Court judgment according to which disclosure of assets filed by public representatives may put their life and property in jeopardy.
Different benches of the differing Information Commissions have taken differing stand regarding disclosure of such information and many people even moved to courts citing discrepancies in the declaration. The former Lokayukta, Justice N Santosh Hegde, has supported the people’s right to know about the declared assets of their leaders under the RTI.
There has been a spate of applications under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking copy of the Immovable Property Return (IPR) filed by a government servant. The people’s representatives give a declaration to the Election Commission before they file papers for an election.