Ministry of Rural Development directed to disclose records relating to promulgation of the RFCTLARR (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014

Central Information Commission (CIC): CIC has directed Department of Land Resources (Ministry of Rural Development) to disclose the records relating to the promulgation of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation & Resettlement (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014. Earlier, an RTI request was filed by the applicant before President’s Secretariat seeking photo copies of (i) all materials on the basis of which the President of India was satisfied that circumstances existed for him to take immediate action by promulgating the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation & Resettlement (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014 and (ii) all file notings available on record in relation to the matter. Said application was transferred to the Department of Land Resources which intimated the applicant that the information sought was not available in the department, and further transferred the application to the Legislative Department. Then, Legislative Department informed the complainant that the subject matter of the information sought falls under the administrative ambit of the Ministry of Rural Development and records relating to the promulgation of the said Ordinance would be available with the Department of Land Resources. Feeling aggrieved, applicant approached the Commission. After perusal of material on record, CIC ordered Department of Land Resources (Ministry of Rural Development) to disclose all records, including copies of file notings, related to the promulgation of land ordinance to the applicant within four weeks. [Venkatesh Nayak v. Ministry of Rural Development, 2016 SCC OnLine CIC 8310, decided on June 20, 2016]