Business Standard: New Delhi: Wednesday, 23 July 2014.
The Delhi
High Court today dismissed a plea of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL)
against an order of the Central Information Commission (CIC) directing the PSU
oil firm to disclose the rent paid by it for dealer-leased outlets in
Uttarakhand.
A bench of
Justice Vibhu Bakhru rejected BPCL's plea that the information sought is
exempted from the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act saying the
details sought were "clearly in public interest".
"The
petitioner (BPCL) has contended that it can't be asked to disclose the
information sought as it falls under the exemption clause of the RTI Act. We
find the contention wholly without merit.
"Information
sought only deals with rent paid by petitioner company for dealer leased
outlets. It does not contain any confidential information, trade secrets,
intellectual property or commercial secrets.
"It is
clearly in public interest and should be available for scrutiny," the
court said.
BPCL had
challenged the CIC's January 28, 2014 order directing the oil company to
provide the dealer-wise rent paid by it for outlets leased by its dealers in
Uttarakhand.
The
commission had also rejected the company's plea that the information sought falls
under the exemption clause.
The
commission had passed the order on the plea of Jai Pal Singh who through an RTI
application on January 22,2013 had sought various details including the
dealer-wise rent paid by BPCL for outlets in Uttarakhand.
During the
brief proceedings, the court observed that the oil company was violating CIC's
order and added "you are a public sector undertaking. Public should know
what you are paying for. Make it transparent.
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