Govt takes apex cyber security agency out of public’s right to know

Contact Counsellor

CategoryPolity

Last Updated26/11/2023

Recently, The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has been exempted from the Right to Information Act, 2005.
CERT-In is the national nodal agency to deal with cyber security threats like hacking and phishing,

The Department of Personnel and Training, through a notification, has excluded CERT-In from the purview of the Right to Information Act.
The exemption is enacted under sub-section (2) of Section 24 of the RTI Act.
CERT-In is now listed at serial number 27 in the Second Schedule of the RTI Act.
This places CERT-In among the 26 other intelligence and security organizations already exempted from the Act.
- The 26 organizations include Intelligence Bureau, Research and Analysis Wing, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, and others.

Section 24 of the RTI Act allows the government to exempt certain organizations from the law.
However, exemption under Section 24 does not apply to information related to corruption and human rights violations.
Information related to human rights violations can only be provided after the approval of the Central Information Commission.
The Central Government can amend the Second Schedule through notifications in the Official Gazette, subject to parliamentary review.