PANAJI
Ending a decade-long stalling of efforts to bring Raj Bhavan under the ambit of the Right to Information Act, Goa Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai on Friday ushered in a new era of transparency for the gubernatorial institution by bringing it under the ambit of information laws.
Pillai, who had hinted at such a decision during his interview with Prudent Media on October 2, made the formal announcement at a function at the Raj Bhavan in the presence of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat on Friday.
Lawyer and activist Aires Rodrigues, whose original petition first led to the debate over whether the Raj Bhavan is a “public authority” as defined under the RTI act, has welcomed Pillai’s overture, stating that his announcement was in “the best interests of the democratic principles and the Constitutional mandate of the RTI Act”.
“I would like to publicly declare my policy that Governors are bound to furnish information to the people and people are supreme,” Pillai said at the Raj Bhavan event on Friday.
“I do not want to blame anybody, but hereafter RTI with respect to Raj Bhavan will be available for all the citizens,” he also said.
The question of whether the Raj Bhavan qualifies as a “public authority” and therefore comes under the ambit of the RTI act, cropped up in 2011.
Hearing a petition filed by Rodrigues, then head of the Goa State Information Commission Motilal Keny had passed an order that the Raj Bhavan was a “public authority” and hence should come under the RTI law’s ambit.
The Goa Raj Bhavan had subsequently appealed to the Bombay High Court, which also upheld the Commission’s order, following which the Raj Bhavan had appealed in the Supreme Court.
Just before making the announcement, Pillai in his speech, had underlined the importance and power of people in a democracy as against those occupying public office.
“The basis of democracy is that people are more supreme than the Governor, Chief Minister, Opposition leader... all are expected to serve the people. They are not the boss of the people,” Pillai had said.
Reacting to the development, Rodrigues said that the announcement was “great news” and would stop “needless protracted litigation” pending before the Supreme Court.
“For over a decade the Goa Raj Bhavan has not been submitting itself to this transparency law by strangely claiming that it is not a ‘public authority’ despite all other Raj Bhavans across the country and even the Rashtrapati Bhavan being under the purview of RTI Act which was enacted to ensure transparency and accountability in governance,” Rodrigues said.
Guv gives go ahead for new Raj Bhavan
PANAJI: Goa Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai has also accepted a proposal from the state government for the construction of a new Raj Bhavan complex in the state. Pillai has given his consent to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to build the new bhavan.
