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RTI Act should cover judges too

The editorial “Enforcing RTI” (April 24) makes a strong plea to build public opinion for a transparent and open society, putting to test the concept of accountability and upholding the right of the citizen to know.

It will be a setback for the RTI if judges seek immunity from the Act. The genesis of the right-to-information move lay in a ruling of the Supreme Court in a public 
interest litigation case filed 
by me i.e. Umed Singh Gulia vs Union of India.

A Constitution Bench had ruled in a 4:1 majority verdict on July 25, 1991, that judges of the Supreme Court and the high courts are public servants within the meaning of Section 2 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The Lok Sabha Speaker rightly says that consistent with the RTI’s ultimate objective of establishing a transparent society in an environment of public accountability, 
nothing should be kept from the electorate. The RTI Act cannot be judged by those it is meant to take on.

UMED SINGH GULIA, advocate, Supreme Court, Faridabad

II

With full respect to the Chief Justice of India, I tend to disagree with his recent contention  that being a constitutional functionary, his office does not fall in the category of “public servant”  and as such  is not covered under the Right to Information Act. 

It is humbly submitted that the repute and image of the judiciary would elevate further in the eyes of our citizens if the RTI is implemented by it in letter and in spirit with suitable exceptions so as to protect the independence of the judiciary. The judiciary itself should take the initiative to adopt a transparency mechanism and shed its opaque image.

HEMANT KUMAR, Ambala

III

The heads of constitutional posts cannot opt on their own out of the RTI Act They should remember that they are public servants and are governed by some rules and regulations like other officers. The laws enacted by our Parliament should be strictly enforced throughout the country without any exemption.

R. S. BHALLA, Malerkotla

Sun and flowers

Our school is surrounded by agricultural land on all sides and these days golden yellow sunflowers are blooming all around. They present a lovely scenario and look like a painted yellow landscape. Unfortunately, the sunflowers do not turn their heads with the changing position of the sun as they used to do some years back. They are called sunflowers because they always keep their faces towards the sun. Not any more.

I am told that these flowers have man-made (hybrid) seeds and yield more oil and money. I don’t know if that is the reason but it was a rude shock to me. Another mystery of nature devoured for commerce? Mourn ye nature-lovers, sunflowers have turned into oil flowers!

VINOD PANDYA, Principal, Vishvas Public School, Shahabad (Haryana)

U, Me but not Her Geetanjali Gayatri’s middle “U, Me but not Her” (April 23) was worth contemplating by one and all. Female infanticide and foeticide are not uncommon in Punjab, taking into account the alarming proportions that its sex-ratio has reached. The killer mothers of the girls, who could not see the light of the day, along with their male counterparts have made the state (in)famous across “Bharat mata” today. There is no gainsaying that boys carry their family names forward, the reason for which they are preferred to girls. But also keep in mind the growing number of boys getting addicted to drugs. That surely does not make their parents proud! On the other hand, girls are doing remarkably well in almost every field, be it medicine, engineering, commerce, journalism, philanthropy or sports. That girls are preferred to boys for most of the white-collar jobs is a hardcore reality. The treatment being meted out to this gender is, therefore, unjustified. There is need for an immediate change in the mindset of vacuous parents who still yearn for baby boys. Laws should be made stringent enough to deter the parents from committing the unpardonable sin. HARBINDER SINGH, Chandigarh