VIJAYAWADA: The State Government on Monday submitted before the Andhra Pradesh High Court that it has not received any complaints from the general public that they are facing difficulties in accessing government orders (GOs) issued by different departments on the official website.
In an affidavit submitted to the court, principal secretary (GAD-Political) R Mutyala Raju informed that there is no ban on posting the GOs on public domains. Earlier, they were posted on the website of Government Order Issue Register (GOIR). Currently, they are posted on https://apegazette. cgg.gov.in As many as 620 GOs issued by 33 different departments from August 17, 2021 to January 28, 2022 have been posted on the website. A total 7,837 orders, including confidential and very confidential, have not been posted.
Earlier, even orders pertaining to minor expenditures and bills were posted on to the website and now it is not being done, which has brought down the number of GOs posted on the public domains. Only those orders pertaining to government policies, transfers and promotions among others are being posted in the public domain. The affidavit further explained that earlier, GO numbers were generated by computers, but they are now numbered manually. Arguing that the petitions challenging the government’s decision against posting GOs in GOIR are not of public interest, the government requested the court to consider it and issue orders.
Taking note that the affidavits were not included in the court records, the division bench comprising Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice M Satyanarayana Murthy adjourned the hearing to February 7. Stating that by not posting the GOs on the official website GOIR is denying information under Right to Information Act, GMNS Devi from Nellore, K Srinivas Rao from Guntur, SR Anjaneyulu from Anantapur had filed separate PILs. During the hearing, petitioners’ counsel Y Balaji informed the court that though the government had said it will file a detailed affidavit, the same was not done. Countering, government pleader Chintala Suman said a detailed affidavit has been filed and the copies of the same were sent to petitioner’s counsel and other advocates through