STF on drugs excluded from RTI Act

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 20

The Punjab Government has excluded the Special Task Force on Drugs from the purview of the Right to Information Act. A notification in this regard has been issued by the state government.

Even as RTI activists have raised a hue and cry over the decision, the state government has justified the exclusion of the STF under Section 24 (part 2) of the RTI Act, saying that the STF was constituted for a specific purpose of inquiry.

“A lot of information is source based and the modus operandi adopted for gaining the information has to be protected,” said an officer in the Home Affairs Department, while justifying the notification. He added that information in possession of the STF could have bearing on national and internal security as well as diplomatic implications.

A number of people were seeking information under the Right to Information Act concerning the recent operations and work of the STF on Drugs.

In Punjab, the Intelligence Wing, Indian Reserve Battalion and Security Wing, besides armed forces are already excluded from the RTI Act. A letter excluding the STF from the RTI Act has been sent to all divisional commissioners and deputy commissioners, so that no such applications are entertained.