Whispers Forum

Debate
Synergy can easily be made as they are already under the same ministry, same Secretary and same Minister. Why is more synergy required? It will interfere in the functioning of each other resulting in mess.
Priyanka
CSSS & CSS worst affected by way of court cases
Very well said, Samir. We have great hopes with the present establishment that apart from IAS, other services should also be recognised and allowed to prosper. But so far a miniscule only had been done. More reforms and adjustments with alacrity needed to boost the morale of officers and staff. CSSS and CSS are worst affected by way of court cases. Govt should work in tandem and resolve the issues amicably. Only IAS is the mantra that attitude should change for the betterment of the services. Even though it's agreed IAS is above all, that may not be the sole reason to deny others the opportunity to climb. Merit should be the only way forward. Hope some good things happen in future
Ramesh

The Appellant stated that through this appeal he aims to bring out the inconsistency in the procedure followed by the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks in issuing copyrights registration certificate and problems faced by start-up entrepreneurs. In the absence of hard copy of the copyrights certificate, it will be difficult for the start-ups to challenge infringement of their copyrights in a Court of Law based on mere digitised proofs and the litigation process will thus incur unwarranted costs. The CIC apprised the Appellant about the mandate of the RTI Act and the PIO clarified that digital registration certificate is issued as per their procedure and is indeed an admissible document in a Court of Law. The CIC observed that the Appellant has gone beyond the mandate of the RTI Act in seeking additional information at the First & Second Appeal stage based on the reply received from the CPIO in response to the instant RTI Application while bringing up issues concerning the merits of the administrative processes of the Respondent office. The CIC held that the issues thus raised by the Appellant are not amenable to the jurisdiction of the CIC under the RTI Act.
Comments
In the case of Hansi Rawat and Another v. Punjab National Bank and Ors. (LPA No.785/2012) dated 11.01.2013, the Delhi High Court held that the proceedings under the RTI Act cannot be converted into proceedings for adjudication of disputes as to the correctness of the information furnished.
Citation: Ramesh Balasubramaniam v. Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks in File No: CIC/CGPDT/A/2020/688343, Date of Decision: 20/01/2022.
Dr. Anuradha Verma (dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in) is an expert on RTI matters and has co-authored the books RIGHT TO INFORMATION - LAW AND PRACTICE and PIO’s guide to RTI. Apart from her weekly article here, her other articles can be read at the website of RTI Foundation of India at the link: www.rtifoundationofindia.com

Debate
If it has to be headed by one then what is the need for different agencies? The purpose of each agency is different. The power of each agency is different. The jurisdiction of each agency is different. CBI cannot probe until a concerned state or court allows it. The NIA can investigate without any permission. Can a Director of each agency have the morals to work to report every day to CDS like head?
P Agarwal
Improvement of services comes to a naught
All talks about improving the civil services come to a naught if the existing gaps and differences among the various All India Services/Central Services are allowed to widen and persist in the interest of one service namely IAS. I do not understand the reason and rationale behind it. May, be the reason that other services are not allowed to come in contact with political masters and also not allowed to reach at the top echelon of the pyramid. Unless this frustration among all other services is not addressed and everyone is not allowed to climb the ladder based on merits and professional competence, I do not find that this talk of bonhomie and common courses can do any good. Sooner it is taken care of, better it will be in the interest of the general public. Wide gap in promotion, empanelment, key positions, etc need to be looked into on top priority, leaving aside feeling of supremacy and one-upmanship
Samir

How things have changed for Congress. So far it was considered as the main and only national level opposition party. So when poll alliance possibilities were considered, it played the role of a senior partner. But now things have come to such a passé that the grand old party may have to fight as junior partner in Bengal, Punjab with TMC, AAP in lead, as stated by senior party leader P Chidambaram. During the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Kejriwal wanted to forge an alliance with Congress. But now parties even fear that if they make an election alliance with Congress then this could have a negative impact on them.
Adarsh Arya

Debate
It is not practically possible to have only one agency to deal with economic offences. In a vast country like India, one single agency can’t deal with a large number of economic offences taking place daily. There are different types of economic offences like tax evasion, bribery, counterfeiting of currency, bank frauds, money laundering, hawala transactions. So different agencies dealing with such offences conduct investigations into them and they cannot be dealt with by a single agency.
Dheeraj Pandey
In triangular contest in Delhi, BJP will gain and AAP will suffer
In Delhi elections 2020, BJP could win only 5 out of 67 seats although it polled about 38.5 percent of total votes. AAP’s landslide win can be attributed to almost direct contest between AAP and BJP and AAP’s votes were not split. In UP, the BJP’s vote share was 41.2 percent which is slightly more than its vote share of 38.5 percent in Delhi. But it bagged 255 seats out of total 403 because the votes were split. Now the question is, if Congress makes a fight back in Delhi and bags more votes then will it still be cakewalk for AAP ? I think in case of a triangular contest in Delhi, BJP will gain and AAP will suffer.
Gaurav Nigam

Your reaction to the Punjab results is shameful. ‘Punjab will be Kashmir’. Are you cursing the new government? It's well known that you are unable to digest AAP's victory but how can you curse the government?
Pallav
A way to promote peddled propaganda
Your political analysis and so-called insider news from the same are nothing but a way to promote BJP peddled propaganda. The extent of the correctness of your political analysis can be seen from the fact that you said Amarinder Singh and BJP were at the pole position before the elections when Captain Amarinder Singh resigned. The result which we saw in Punjab showed the reality of your political knowledge. Learn to respect the mandate given by people instead of peddling right-wing propaganda like "Punjab to become new Kashmir". Your portal should not become a mirror reflection of Whatsapp groups. It would be good for you to drop your anti-opposition bias, especially with respect to the new ruling party in Punjab if you really want your readers to maintain the same credibility in you intact.
Joy

Action taken on a petition seeking release of Appellant’s husband (a resident of Uttar Pradesh) from the Central Jail, Patiala was sought from the Ministry of Law & Justice. The PIO informed that the subject matter does not concern their department but may be pursued with the appropriate State Government of Uttar Pradesh & Punjab. Before the CIC, the appellant’s advocate argued that the Respondent office should have pursued the case with the concerned public authority. The CIC observed that by virtue of his profession, the appellants’ advocate is expected to be acquainted with the jurisdictional powers of the State and Centre while filing petitions particularly in matters such as the instant one where there is ostensibly no overlap of Centre and State jurisdiction.
Comments
It is one of the rare cases where transfer of application under section 6(3) of the RTI Act has not been insisted upon by the CIC. Section 6(1)(a) of the RTI Act expects that a RTI application should be filed with the concerned public authority.
Citation: Arati Rajbhar v. Ministry of Law & Justice in File No: CIC/MOLAJ/A/2020/127106, Date of Decision: 27/01/2022.

An agency having a control over all the agencies dealing in economic offences is not likely to be very fruitful, as it would be difficult to maintain coordination among these agencies. Agencies like CBI, ED, DRI etc do not work in coordination with each other and any agency controlling them will not in fact be able to exercise much authority over them. In the Defence field it is a different thing. Army, Navy and Air Force work in coordination with each other and the level of discipline and responsibility seen in the defence sector would be lacking in agencies dealing with economic crimes.
Deepak Yadav
Submission to Finance Minister
The Financial year is coming to a close. People are worried about obtaining annual statements, interest certificates, TDS certificates from banks and post offices online without visiting a physical branch. Are we in position to comply with this? The Minister for Finance may help and issue necessary directives to provide download facilities from the sites to have certificates and statements on line as desired by customers.
Naveen

Sunil Thakur's suggestion is correct to the extent that only meritorious who have returned from UKraine are admitted in Medical Colleges in India. Students who had got admission in Medical Colleges in Ukraine simply based on money and without any test & marksheets should not be admitted easily.
Anurag
Is India Congress-Mukt?
Election results of five states are out. Looks like our Country has really become Congress-mukt. It is time somebody writes a book. Title of the book should be "Rahul Gandhi - - the failed crown prince".
Babu