Lok Ayukta declines RTI request for Pattoor report

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Lok Ayukta has rejected an application for copy of the Vigilance report on the Pattoor land grab case under the Right to Information Act.

The report, submitted to the Ayukta in a sealed cover, has been remaining with the Ayukta for a long time now without being considered for further action.

The Ayukta rejected the RTI application citing section 17(1) of the Kerala Lok Ayuta Act which says that information received by the Ayukta should be treated as confidential.

However, the General Secretary of the Human Rights Defence Forum D. B. Binu, who filed the application, maintains that provisions of the Right to Information Act override provisions in other laws. Information could be rejected only under sections 8 and 9 of the RTI Act. He is approaching the State Information Commission against the State Information Officer of the Lok Ayukta.

Mr. Binu had initially sought the report from the Vigilance and Anti-corruption Bureau which redirected the request to the State Information Officer of the Ayukta noting that the report had been submitted to the Ayukta.