The Government of India has exempted the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) from the purview of the Right to Information Act, 2005.
- A notification of this effect was issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
- The RTI Act enacted in 2005 said the Act shall not apply to the intelligence and security organisations specified in the Second Schedule, provided that the information pertaining to the allegations of corruption and human rights violations shall not be excluded.
- The Centre has used its powers given under sub-section (2) of Section 24 of the RTI Act to exempt CERT-In from the purview of the transparency law. Using those powers, the Centre has included CERT-In at serial number 27 in the Second Schedule of the RTI Act.
- With inclusion in the Second Schedule of the RTI Act, the CERT-In now joins the list of 26 other intelligence and security organisations, which are already exempted from the purview of the Act.
Section 24 of the RTI Act
- Under Section 24 of the RTI Act, certain organisations are exempted from the law.
- The RTI law empowers the Central Government to amend the Second Schedule by including therein any other intelligence or security organisation established by it or omitting therefrom any organisation already specified therein.
- The Centre can amend the Second Schedule through a notification in the Official Gazette. However, every such notification shall be laid before each House of Parliament.
- Similar powers have been given to the state government under Sub-section 4 of Section 24 of the RTI Act.
About CERT-In
- The CERT-In is the national nodal agency to deal with cyber security threats like hacking and phishing,
- The CERT-In comes under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
