An opening chapter

The decision to allow right to information activist Arvind Kejriwal to inspect cabinet files and notings on FDI is a landmark decision.

The Central Information Commission’s decision to allow right to information activist Arvind Kejriwal to inspect all cabinet files and notings on FDI in brand retailing is a landmark decision. This is for the first time that cabinet papers have been accessed under the Right to Information Act, 2005. By over-ruling the objections raised by the central public information officer on the issue, the CIC has sent across the right signal to the public and to public servants. One of the many impediments before the implementation of the RTI — in spirit, and not just in letter — has been the attitude of the bureaucracy. While corrupt officials have a stake in trying to keep potentially damaging information secret, many honest officials also resent having to divulge information due to an ingrained culture of secrecy that views answering the public’s questions as an attack on their personal power and esteem.

HT Image

The particular subject on which access to information has been allowed — brand retailing, which is part of the larger process of reform — is also significant. With far-reaching reforms being introduced rapidly, the public deserves to know why and how decisions are reached. Countries with strong right to information traditions have a more active and effective civil society. The path-breaking class action suits against tobacco companies in the US could happen because members of the public could access critical information. In Europe, de-classified documents from the past are routinely used by the academia to revisit and reconstruct historical ‘truths’.

The latest ruling will give a fillip to the fledgling system that has been put in place since the RTI law came into effect in October 2005, although more work needs to be done. While the system allows public access to even cabinet decisions, little is being done to open information relating to the past, or provide reasonable access to information on critical areas like national security.