Srinagar, October 18
Governor Lt-Gen SK Sinha (retd) has expressed reservations to the amended Right to Information Act passed by the state legislature and returned it to the government without according his sanction.

Official sources told The Tribune that Raj Bhawan felt that the RTI Act adopted by the state was a much diluted version of the Central RTI Act, 2005, which was not applicable in J&K due to the state's special constitutional status, and it was likely to fail in its purpose to serve the public good in its present form.

"If a state wants to extend a central law, then it should not deviate from its basic tenets and if it does, then there should a strong basis for it. Any such justification was absent in the bill passed by the government," a senior official said, adding that the bill showed non-application of mind by those who drafted the bill.

The state legislature had passes a bill way back in 2003 and it was notified in October, 2004, but as the clamour to bring it on par with Central RTI Act, 2005, grew, the bill went through an amendment.

Official sources said Raj Bhawan intends to follow through to its refusal to give sanction if the state government persisted with the amended bill.