Times of India: New
Delhi: Wednesday, June 19, 2013.
Three months
after the Central Information Commission asked the government to disclose
information related to replacing the then additional solicitor general A S
Chandiok from an Essar Steel case, it has said that the letter is
"untraceable".
According to
reports, the petroleum ministry had written to the law ministry to replace
Chandiok from a crucial case against Essar Steel claiming that he took a stand
against its instructions.
The reply was
in response to an RTI application filed by Subhash Agrawal seeking a copy of
file notings and letter written by the petroleum ministry to the law ministry
seeking Chandiok's replacement. The transparency panel allowed disclosure of
communication and file notings.
The
commission rejected the contention of the petroleum ministry that the letter
was "confidential" and related to a "sensitive issue", so
it should not be disclosed. The law ministry in a letter dated June 12 said the
letter was untraceable.
"It is a
well settled law that the public authority can claim exemption from disclosure
only as per the section 8 (1) of the RTI Act. In the present appeal before the
commission, the respondent has not claimed any exemption as per the RTI Act nor
been able to explain how the information if revealed would attract any of the
exemption as per the Act," information commissioner Sushma Singh said.
Essar Steel
had approached the Delhi High Court challenging the petroleum ministry's move
to reduce the supply of natural gas from the Reliance KG-D6 fields to non-core
sectors. It had maintained that if gas supply was reduced, the company would
face hardship.
While the
court had passed orders on June 3, 2011, the ASG reportedly intimated it to the
petroleum ministry on July 1.
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