Kochi: The CPI-backed Indian Association of Lawyers has moved the Kerala High Court to implead in the state's petition seeking a declaration that it is not duty-bound to reveal Cabinet decisions under the RTI Act. It argues that the state is indirectly seeking secrecy for decisions of elected representatives, which is against the purpose and objective of the Act. The CPM and its junior partner are already at loggerheads with CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran himself joining issue with chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on the issue.
The petitioner is a registered association of practising lawyers founded in 1969, the plea said, and that the relief sought by them is a matter of great public importance. The petitioner is quite sure that, being a responsible association of lawyers, it could contribute to the dispassionate legal discussion which is essential for deciding the plea. It argued that it had actively worked towards the betterment of judicial as well as legislative transparency over the years. Petitioners contended that it was in their plea the state stayed the operation of a government order which excluded T-branch of VACB from the purview of Right to Information Act, 2005. The petition is set to come up for hearing on Monday.
