New Delhi, December 12: Elected representatives including MPs, MLAs and local bodies members are not covered under the Right to Information Act in ‘individual’ capacity, Central Information Commission has ruled.
The Commission, however, has clarified that information regarding their activities can be accessed from bodies to which they are part of like Parliament, state legislative assembly or local bodies.
A division bench of the Commission comprising Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah and Shailesh Gandhi said, “we must conclude that individuals whether MPs, MLAs, Councillors or members of Panchayats cannot in themselves be deemed public authorities. Nevertheless, the organisations and Committees in which they fulfil their obligations under the Constitution are indeed organisations defined as public authorities,” the bench held while hearing several pleas that were clubbed together in the matter.
–Agencies