The draft Bill, however, changes all this. There are only nine exemption clauses and these are narrowly drawn without giving the PIO too much discretion to reject a request. The draft Bill establishes the principle that any information that cannot be denied to MPs, MLAs and MLCs cannot be denied to citizens. The draft Bill also states that six out of the nine exemptions will not apply to information that is more than ten years old.
CHRI calls the changes welcome and has recommended that the exemptions relating to national security, legislative privilege and cabinet papers be made non-applicable for information that is more than twenty years old at the time of making the request.
The draft Bill also provides for the creation of an Information Commission that is similar to the body referred to in the amendments incorporated to the J&K RTI Act in 2008. The chief minister is the Chair and a nominated cabinet minister and the leader of the opposition are two members. But experts fear that it has the potential to become a political affair thus denting its neutral image. In this regard CHRI has recommended that the draft Bill be amended to include the Chief Justice of the J&K High Court as the second member in place of the nominated Cabinet Minister.
