Legislative privilege invoked as J&K Assembly withholds question details
Srinagar, Oct 20 :
The Jammu & Kashmir Assembly has refused to disclose information about the questions disallowed during the budget session, stating that such disclosure would breach the privilege of the legislature.
In its reply to an application filed under the Right to Information Act, 2005 -a copy of which is in possession of the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the Assembly Secretariat cited Section 8(1)(c) of the transparency law to deny details of the questions disallowed by the Speaker during the budget session held in March–April this year.
“The information sought comes under the exemption clause in terms of Section 8 (1) (c) of the Right to Information Act, 2005, which applies to the non-disclosure of information whose disclosure would breach the privilege of Parliament or State Legislature,” the the Assembly Secretariat stated in its response.
It further explained that the exemption is intended to shield the Assembly’s proceedings from external interference.
“This exemption ensures that the Legislature can conduct its proceedings without external interference by preventing the disclosure of information protected by legislative privilege,” said the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of the Assembly Secretariat, citing inputs from the Question Branch.
The application was filed by Syed Adil, an activist from Central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district. He had sought details of the questions that were disallowed, along with the names of the MLAs who had submitted them and the reasons for their disallowance—(KNO)