RTI more powerful than ‘OSA’

In view of the transparency RTI more powerful than ‘OSA’regime ushered in by the 2005 Right to Information Act. according to Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah the Government may undertake a review of the 1923 Official Secrets Act (OSA) after Major General (retired) V K Singh wrote a book on corruption in the RAW. Where there is a direct conflict between the OSA and RTI Act, it is the RTI which will prevail. The OSA cannot be used in a manner in which it is inconsistent with provisions of the RTI Act. Even documents marked secret or confidential, which would normally attract provisions of the OSA, can be disclosed since the discretionary provision is there in the RTI Act. And if these requests are turned down, the applicant can always appeal to the CIC and argue about the public interest served. With such RTI provisions, the relevance of OSA has become very limited.