Arunachal
Times: New Delhi: Monday, 22 February 2016.
The Indian
Consulate in Sydney has refused to make public records related to alleged fake
passport issued to Chhota Rajan which enabled his stay in Australia, citing
four exemption clauses from the RTI Act without giving any reason to
substantiate them. Venkatesh Nayak of Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative had
sought from the Indian High Commission in Australia details of the passport
issued to Rajan on the basis of forged identity.
The
application was forwarded to the mission in Sydney where the travel document
was issued to Rajan. The Mission refused to divulge the details citingSections
8(1)(a), (e), (g) and (h) of the RTI Act. “… The First Appellate Authority has
sent the email that the CPIO rejected my RTI application under Sections 8A, 8E,
8G and 8H. There is no attachment or email form the CPIO that was supposedly
sent to me. To which email address, I am not sure,” Nayak claimed.
Section
8(1)(a) alone covers seven grounds to deny information sovereignty and
integrity, defence, strategic, scientific, economic interests and foreign
relations of the state and incitement to commission of crimes. Section 8(1)(e)
relates to fiduciary relationship, 8(1)(g) exempts information from disclosure
which may endanger the life and safety of any person and 8(1)(h) the disclosure
impede the investigation, prosecution process or arrest of the offenders.
Several high
courts have given orders that mere invoking exemptions is not enough and the
public authority must give sufficient reasons to justify denial of information.
“This reply from the Sydney Consulate amounts to shielding officers who may
have issued the passport without due diligence or perhaps even through corrupt
means. The CBI has already registered an FIR under the Prevention of Corruption
Act, 1988 against unnamed officials in this case. So there is a great amount of
public interest in making the identity of these officials public instead of
protecting them,” Nayak alleged.
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