PANJIM: Activist advocate Aires Rodrigues on Saturday filed a Caveat in the Supreme Court seeking that no order be passed without hearing him on the transfer application filed by the Goa Raj Bhavan with regards to petition filed on RTI before Bombay High Court at Goa.
The Raj Bhavan had challenged before the Bombay High Court at Goa the order passed by the Goa Chief Information Commissioner on October 15, who upheld the earlier orders of the Commission holding that the Raj Bhavan is a Public Authority and comes within the ambit of the RTI Act.
The Raj Bhavan, however, last month filed a transfer petition seeking that the petition be heard by the Supreme Court which has been strongly opposed by the petitioner stating that it was a ploy to only further circumvent the RTI Act which it had been breaching for the last decade.
In his reply filed before the High Court, Adv Rodrigues has strongly opposed the Raj Bhavan petition stating that it was most reprehensible and a red letter day to see that the Secretary to the Governor has approached the Court with an intent to stifle due enforcement of the RTI Act which is a legislation passed by Parliament with a view to bring transparency in the working of the Governments both at the Centre and the State.
Pointing out that all Raj Bhavans across the country and even the Rashtrapati Bhavan have opened their gates for freedom of information, Adv Rodrigues stated that the Goa Raj Bhavan has apparently forgotten that the Governor is a constitutional functionary required to act as per the constitutional mandate and transparency.
