All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Deepa Das Munshi on Sunday accused the Modi government of subverting the Right to Information Act through (RTI) amendments. Addressing a press conference here, she said that the Union government has usurped the power of the Information Commissioners, who had a fixed term of 5 years and guaranteed terms of service, through an amendment in 2019.
The Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 expanded the scope of personal information. The provision that personal information cannot be disclosed even in the public interest has destroyed the essence of the law. The Central Information Commission has only two members instead of 11 due to non-filling of vacancies. Even the post of Chief Information Commissioner has been lying vacant since September 2025. The situation is similar in many States. About 23,000 cases are pending in the Central Information Commission. Information about crores spent on the Prime Minister’s foreign trips, death due to oxygen shortage during Covid, and use of the PM Cares Fund were denied, Ms. Munshi alleged.
She alleged that the Kerala government has also taken several steps to weaken the RTI Act. The State government has denied information related to the police, such as custodial deaths, she said.
Published – October 12, 2025 08:16 pm IST
