Cabinet note is not confidential anymore: CIC

The Times of India; Mumbai; Prafulla Marpakwar; Sunday, May 01, 2011,

MUMBAI: A cabinet note on the basis of which a council of minister takes a decision and subsequently passes a government resolution (GR) is not confidential and anyone can have access to a copy of it under the RTI Act.

The verdict was passed on Friday by a full bench of the state information commission, presided over by chief information commissioner Vilas Patil. The new decree overrules Vikas Patil's predecessor Suresh Joshi's ruling in 2006 that said a cabinet note was a confidential document and a citizen could not get access to it by applying under the Right to Information Act. In fact, the decision was arrived at after a much deliberation, with Vilas Patil, his Aurungabad counterpart D B Deshpande, Amravti information commissioner Bhaskar Patil and Nagpur information chief P W Patil maintaining that the note should not be kept "secret". However, Navi Mumbai info chief Navinkumar and his Nashik counterpart M H Shah tried to argue it should not be made public.

"The view of the majority prevailed and it was decided that an RTI applicant is eligible to obtain a copy of the cabinet note," a senior official told TOI on Saturday.

The issue was raised after a resident, Archana Gawda, in 2007, filed a query under the RTI Act, seeking a copy of the cabinet note of the repeal of the Urban Land Ceiling Act (Ulca) and the state's decision on the proposal. The general administration department (GAD), however, refused to send her a copy saying, "according to the rules of business as well as the provisions of the RTI Act, a cabinet note is confidential; going by constitutional provisions, cabinet documents are secret, and so, it will not be possible to provide them under the RTI Act". Denied of the papers, Gawda filed an appeal with the chief information commissioner. After hearing the arguments of the government nominee, the commission, however, ruled that a council of ministers will have to make its decision public, as well as reveal the reason and the material based on which the decision was taken. "The commission's point is clear. Once the decision is taken, the cabinet note is no more secret. So, it should be made available under RTI Act," the official added.

The bench comprising Vilas Patil, Nagpur information commissioner P W Patil and his Aurangabad, Navi Mumbai, Amravati and Nashik counterparts, D B Deshpande, Navinkumar, Bhaskar Patil and M H Shah, respectively, dealt at length an appeal filed by Archana Gawda. Significantly, there was a split in the bench over the confidentiality of the cabinet note. Vilas Patil, D B Deshpande, Bhaskar Patil and P W Patil held that the cabinet note is not confidential, while Navinkumar and M H Shah said it was confidential and as such should be made public. "The view of the majority prevailed, therefore, it was decided that the applicant is eligible to obtain a copy of the cabinet note,'' a senior official told ToI on Saturday.

In her application filed in April 2007, Gawda had sought a copy of the cabinet note of the repeal of the urban land ceiling act and the decision taken by the state government on the proposal.

The general administration department had declined to provide her the cabinet note, saying, as per the rules of business as well as the provisions of the RTI act, a cabinet note is a confidential document, as such, it can't be accessed under the RTI act. It was stated that as per the constitutional provisions, cabinet documents are secret, therefore, it will not be possible to provide them under the RTI act.

After hearing the arguments of the government nominee, the commission observed that as per section 8 (i), the decisions of the council of ministers, the reason thereof and the material on the basis of which the decisions were taken shall be made public after the decision has been taken and the matter is complete or over. "The observations of the commission are clear. Once the decision is taken, the cabinet note is no more confidential, as such, the same should be made available to an applicant,'' he said.