HYDERABAD: The Telangana government on Tuesday informed the Telangana High Court that it had withdrawn the circular issued by the Chief Secretary on October 13 this year, as per which Principal Secretaries and Special Chief Secretaries of all departments were directed to instruct the respective Public Information Officers to furnish the information sought from them by applicants under the RTI Act only after consent from the concerned bureaucrats was obtained.
Advocate General of Telangana BS Prasad told a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice N Tukaramji that the circular was withdrawn, for which fresh notification had been published on November 12.
The Chief Justice disposed of the PILs and observed: “The government withdrew the internal circular on RTI Act, 2005, thereby putting an end to the controversy.”
The Division Bench was hearing three PILs on the issue filed by RTI activist Ganji Srinivasa Rao and two others. On November 1, 2021, the HC had stayed the circular and directed the government to file a counter affidavit.