Goa State Chief Information Commissioner (GSCIC) Vishwas Satarkar, who also happens to be a former Speaker of the Goa Legislative Assembly, has lifted that veil of secrecy on Goa Legislature Secretariat. In his order the GSCIC has observed that the Goa Legislature Secretariat had denied information under the RTI Act on a wrong footing which was not sustainable. Referring to the denial of information citing exemption under Section 8 (1) (c) of the RTI Act, the GSCIC observed that Parliament and State Legislatures are not excluded from the applicability of the RTI Act. The information sought was pertaining to the two-day training workshop for MLAs held on June 27 and 28 last year at the Taj Vivanta. While denying the information, the Public Information Officer (PIO) of the Legislature Secretariat had stated that the disclosure of the information was exempted under Sec8 (1) (c) of the RTI Act and Rule 37(16) of the Rules of Conduct of Business of Goa Legislative Assembly. The skewed stand taken by the Legislature Secretariat was illegal, perverse, bad and contrary to law as the RTI Act was intended to furnish information and not to deny it.
