Economic
Times: New Delhi: Friday, 26 September 2014.
The Ministry
of Shipping has declined to share details of foreign companies, which applied
for various port projects here, and were denied security clearances.
Replying to
an RTI query, the ministry said it was exempted from providing information
related to commercial confidence and trade secrets.
"The
information sought in your application falls under the exemptions provided
under Section 8 (1) (d) of the Right to Information Act," it said.
The section
bars information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual
property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a
third party.
The Shipping
Ministry was asked to give details of companies of foreign origins which had
bid for any port projects (expansion, renovation, technological upgrading,
etc), and denied security clearance in the past five years.
The Shipping
Ministry also cited a recent order by the Central Information Commission which
said, "Security inputs received from various central security agencies
cannot be disclosed under Section 8 (1) (a) and (g) of the RTI Act."
The Section 8
(1) (a) exempts information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the
sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or
economic interests of the State and its relation with foreign State.
The other
clause bars disclosure of information which would endanger the life or physical
safety of any person or identify the source of information or assistance given
in confidence for law enforcement or security purposes.