Times
of India: Shimla: Friday, 03 July 2015.
Reacting to
the opinion offered by the Special Protection Group (SPG) to withhold documents
related to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's property in Shimla for security reasons, the
State Information Commission, has said that SPG provides protection to the
person and not to his or her properties. In its recent order, the commission
said that no SPG protectee, including the Prime Minister of India, had ever
taken this plea before the Election Commission that his or her life will be
endangered by the disclosure of details of his or her immoveable property.
Last year,
RTI activist Dev Ashish Bhattacharya had sought information under the RTI Act
about the land purchased by Priyanka Vadra in Shimla. He had filed the
application before Shimla deputy commissioner on July 2, 2014, seeking file
notings, copies of the sale deeds, relaxations being given, land status of
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as on date.
After coming
to know that information related to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's under-construction
house was being sought under RTI, her special power of attorney (SPA) holder S
Ramakrishnan had furnished a communication received by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra
from the Special Protection Group (SPG) of the cabinet secretariat, Government
of India. The communication had SPG's opinion that documents relating to her
property be held back for security reasons as they might have bearing on her
personal safety and that of her family members.
In his
January 27 order, Shimla deputy commissioner, who was also the first appellate
authority (FAA) in the case, had restrained the ADM Shimla. The deputy
commissioner had said that security of a VVIP's was the sole responsibility of
state and the matter about which the information has been sought falls in the
core area. He said that SPG vide letter dated November 21 has opined that
information having direct bearing on the security arrangements may be withheld
from disclosure.
However, a
division bench of chief information commissioner Bhim Sen and information
commissioner K D Batish in its June 29 order said that FAA in its January 27
order was "very much impressed with the opinion of SPG director expressed
by him in a private communication purported to be made with the Third
Party". The Right to Information Act has overriding effect in view of
Section-22 of the Act. "All citizens are equal before law and no one can
say that a VIP is not covered by the RTI Act," order said.
Under the law
for general elections too, all candidates, including the SPG protectees, were
required to declare their moveable and immoveable assets along with details of
the property, the order pointed out. "This is a strange logic advanced by
the FAA and is totally irrational. The FAA has given undue weightage to an
unverified letter allegedly written by the SPG Director," the commission
added.
It pointed
out that according to the SPG Act, no member of the group shall, without the
previous sanction in writing of the central government, should communicate
through letter except in the discharge of his duties. "It is also
important to note that SPG provides protection to the person and not to his
properties. The said letter written by SPG director to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra,
even if true, is unauthorized and irrelevant as he had no authority to issue
such letter to private persons," the information commission added.
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