Indian Express: New Delhi: Thursday, 11 February
2016.
A high-level committee formed last year by the Union
government to look into provisions of Official Secrets Act (OSA) in light of
the Right to Information (RTI) Act may soon suggest to stakeholder ministries
that OSA remains unchanged and that, instead, excessive secrecy be done away
with by relaxing criteria for classifying information.
According to government sources, the panel is likely to
meet within a fortnight and seek feedback from stakeholder ministries on
revising classification criteria that is decided in accordance with
Departmental Security Instructions issued by the Home Ministry.
“There is no ambiguity on how OSA and RTI square up.
According to the RTI Act, 2005, in case of a clash with the OSA, public
interest will prevail. There is no problem with the current form of OSA and it
is a necessary legislation. The real issue is rigid classification of
information which leads to unnecessary secrecy,” said a government source.
According to Section 8(2) of RTI Act, “Notwithstanding
anything in Official Secrets Act, 1923, nor any of the exemptions permissible
in accordance with subsection 8(1) of RTI Act, a public authority may allow
access to information, if public interest in disclosure outweighs the harm to
the protected interests.”
“At the next meeting of the panel, the response of all
stakeholder ministries will be sought on relaxing criteria for classification
of secret information while being careful not to compromise national security,”
the source said.
The committee to look into OSA, a law enacted by the
British in 1923, was set up in February 2015. It comprises the Law Secretary,
the Home Secretary and Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training.
Depending on the level of sensitivity of the information
and implications of its disclosure for national security, the four types of
classification are ‘Top Secret’, ‘Secret’, ‘Confidential’ and ‘Restricted’.
‘Top Secret’ is for information the unauthorised disclosure of which could be
expected to cause “exceptionally grave damage” to national security or national
interest. This category is reserved for the nation’s closest secrets. ‘Secret’
is for information whose disclosure may cause “serious damage” to national
security or national interest or serious embarrassment to the government. It is
used for “highly important matters” and is the highest classification normally
used.
“Confidential” is for information that might cause
“damage” to national security, be prejudicial to national interest and might
embarrass the government. “Restricted” is applied to information meant only for
official use, which is not to be published or communicated to any person except
for official purposes.
Documents that do not require security classification are
regarded as ‘Unclassified’. ‘Top Secret’ files do not travel below the Joint
Secretary level; ‘Secret’ files do not go below the Under Secretary level.
During UPA-I, the second Administrative Reforms
Commission recommended repealing of the Official Secrets Act, but the government
did not accept it.
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