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New Delhi, May 3: Expressing concern over exclusion of the people of Jammu and Kashmir from the purview of the Right to Information Act, 2005, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has advised the state government to bring the State Right to Information Act, 2004 in conformity with the RTI Act.

Chief Information Commissioner(CIC) Wajahat Habibullah has observed that ''although J&K has a Right to Information Act, 2004, it was regrettable that citizens in that part of India are denied the benefits of the Central Right to Information Act, 2005, available to their fellow citizens.'' Mr Habibullah's remarks came while deciding on an application of Mr R C Pandita, a resident of Roop Nagar in Jammu.

The applicant had in July last year, sought an information from the President's Secretariat on Jammu and Kashmir's ranking as the second most corrupt state in India.

However, he did not get any response from the President's office, following which he approached the Central Information Commission, which issued a notice to the President's Secretariat.

In response, central public information officer of the Secretariat Nitin Wakankar described Pandita's complaint to the CIC as ''premature'' and sought its dismissal.

But the CPIO accepted the delay in reply and attributed it to a clerical error. He explained that Pandita's letter was put on file without realising that it was filed under the RTI Act, 2005. The clerical error took place since the earlier letter from Pandita to the President of India had already been sent to the state government for initiating appropriate action.

The CIC in his decision said, "The Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir would be well advised to bring an amendment to the J&K RTI Act 2004 bring it in conformity with the RTI Act, 2005, guaranteeing to all citizens residing in J&K the basic liberties to which all Indians except those dealing with the state government of J&K have come to acquire the right.'' He has also directed the CPIO in the President's Office to inquire into the failure, fix responsibility and initiate action under Section 20(2) of the Act against the delinquent and intimate to the CIC within 20 working days.

UNI