DoPT curbs on info moved from one dept to another

TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Says Consent Of Source Must, Activists Cry Foul .

New Delhi: In yet another attempt to avoid disclosure of information, the department of personnel and training (DoPT) has said confidential documents received by one government department from another can only be disclosed under the RTI Act after consulting the department that imparted the secret papers.

Activists have expressed a mixed response to the circular with some fearing that it could be misused by government officials to deny information while others feel that it was only an effort to streamline implementation of the Act. The DoPT order said government departments should invoke ‘third party clause’ as described under section 11 of the Act. The clause says that if a public authority intends to disclose certain information relating to a third party, it should take permission from the authority concerned.

Recasting information held by the government as ‘third party’ would mean that any information that one wing of the government shares with another and classifies it as “confidential” cannot be disclosed without permission from the department concerned. Activists say this will not only lead to more denial of information but also meaningless delays. “I consider it a setback to the smooth functioning of information seeking as was being practised,” Commodore (retd) Lokesh Batra, an RTI activist, said. However, there are some who differ. “It is in keeping with the law. In practical terms, this is the way forward and I think that it will, in fact, cut down delays in getting information,” Shekhar Singh from the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information said. Singh pointed out that it was difficult for any public authority to decide what is secret and confidential in matters pertaining to another department.

“Section 11 of the Act provides the procedure of disclosure of ‘third party’ information. According to it, if a public information officer (PIO) intends to disclose an information supplied by a third party which the third party has treated as confidential, the PIO, before taking a decision to disclose the information, shall invite the third party to make submission in the matter,” the DoPT circular said.