Why CBI not in RTI ambit: PIL

The Madras high court on Friday ordered notice to the Union government on a public interest litigation (PIL), challenging its notification, exempting the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from the purview of Right To Information (RTI) Act.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice M. Y. Eqbal and Justice T. S. Sivagnanam however declined to stay the operation of the notification dated June 9, 2011, and posted after three weeks, further hearing of the PIL filed by advocate S. Vijayalakshmi, an RTI activist.

According to the petitioner, since the expose of the CWG, 2G and other scams and the successful Lokpal movement, the Union government had become jittery on corruption.

She said the Centre instead of becoming more transparent had become reactionary and maliciously decided to grant blanket exemption for CBI from the RTI Act.