NEW DELHI: For “expediting the passage” of the amendments to the Right to Information (RTI) Act last July, the government had requested the Lok Sabha speaker and the Rajya Sabha chairman to not refer the Bill to the parliamentary standing committee, the notings on government files show.It had also made written requests to Parliament seeking relaxation of the rule requiring two-three days’ notice to members before the introduction of any Bill, saying that “it has not been possible to meet those requirements”. The government had also wanted the immediate inclusion of the Bill to Parliament’s List of Business due its “urgency and importance”.A Cabinet note on this said the Bill would bring "equity and inclusiveness” by providing “uniformity and parity" in the conditions of service of the chairman and members of various statutory organisations and commissions.The government has now made the file notings public.The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on July 22 and the Rajya Sabha on July 25, and became law on August 1 without being vetted by any parliamentary committees. Its new provisions that were criticised by the opposition and RTI activists included downgrading of the status of the chief information commissioner and information commissioners, who were earlier equated to the chief election commissioner and election commissioners, respectively.“The Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2019 is to be introduced in the Lok Sabha on 17th July, 2019. The said Bill is required to be passed immediately in the current session of Parliament, with a view to expediting its passage. In view of the above, I request you kindly not to refer (the) Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2019 to the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee,” minister for personnel Jitendra Singh wrote to Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla on July 15, the file notings show.The minister wrote an identical letter to Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu on July 22.Singh also wrote to Birla and Naidu separately asking for a relaxation on the requirements to give prior notices to the members and providing them with copies of the Bill in advance, saying it had “not been possible to meet the requirement”. As per rules, a three-day notice is required in the Lok Sabha before the introduction of a Bill, while in the Rajya Sabha, it is two days.Opposition members in the Lok Sabha — Saugata Roy, Asaduddin Owaisi, Shashi Tharoor and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury — had given notices on July 19 expressing their intention to oppose the introduction of the Bill and termed it unconstitutional. The opposition later pressed in Parliament for the Bill to be sent to a standing committee, but in vain.The file notings of the government also show the opinion of the law ministry, which concurred with the view of the ministry of personnel.“Since the amendments proposed in (the) RTI Act, 2005 are to bring uniformity/parity in salaries, allowances and other terms and conditions in various statutory organisations/commissions administered by (the) Government of India being a matter of policy, there appears to be no legal or constitutional objection to the proposal contained in the Note,” the law ministry’s opinion said.