Madhya Pradesh Lokayukta denies information on foreign tours

New Delhi, Feb 23: The Madhya Pradesh Lokayukta has refused to share information about the recommendations made by its officials on the basis of foreign tours conducted by them, citing a transparency clause in the RTI Act.

The Madhya Pradesh Special Police Establishment (also known as Lokayukta) is exempted under Section 24 of the RTI Act as per directions of the state government, it said in a reply to an RTI query.

Exercising his Right to Information, Bhopal-based activist Ajay Dubey had sought details of recommendations made to the government by the Lokayukta chief and other officials after their foreign visit last year.

Interestingly, the anti-corruption watchdog has given details of the expenditure incurred by its officials on domestic and foreign tours last year. An amount of Rs 6.24 lakh was spent on domestic and foreign tours of the Lokayukta and its officials, the reply said.

"It is a misuse of RTI Act by Lokayukta. Only 'Lokayukta Police', which is also known as Madhya Pradesh Special Police Establishment, is exempted from providing information, not the office of the 'Lokayukta'. I will appeal against it," said Dubey.

Madhya Pradesh government had through a notification issued on August 25, 2011, exempted the Special Police Establishment and Economic Offences Wing (EOW) from the purview of RTI Act. Dubey has already moved Madhya Pradesh High Court against the government's notification exempting the two organisations which deal with corruption cases.

The matter is presently sub judice. Section 24 of RTI Act exempts intelligence and security agencies from providing information.

PTI