CCC's Appeal To CM
The Coimbatore Consumer Cause has appealed to the Chief Minister to reconsider the decision to exempt the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption from the purview of the Right to Information Act. In a memorandum to the Chief Minister, the secretary of the forum, K. Kathirmathiyon, pointed out that the Government had notified that the Right to Information Act shall not apply to the State Vigilance Commission and Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption. The Government had said that the State Vigilance Commission and V&AC had to maintain confidentiality and secrecy in the investigation from the initial stage till filing of charge sheets, since providing information would be detrimental to the progress of the case.Hence exemption was given to the Vigilance Commission and DVAC under sub-section (4) of Section 24 of the Act. He said that reasons for exemption were understandable but a total exemption could have been avoided. Only the information regarding the investigations/inquiry conducted by these bodies could have been exempted and not other information. In respect of trap cases, there was inordinate delay in refunding the “trap money.” There were instances of it not being refunded even after decades. Even the consolidated details about the total number of cases for which the refund has to be made and total amount to be refunded to the complainants etc were not available with the Vigilance Commission.
