NDTV: New Delhi: Monday, September 18, 2017.
The Act
clearly states that the information pertaining to the allegations of corruption
and human rights violation will not fall under the exemption given to these
organisations under Section 24 of the RTI Act.
The CBI
cannot claim absolute exemption from disclosing information pertaining to
allegations of corruption and human rights violations held by it under the RTI
Act, the Delhi High Court has held.
The CBI has
been denying information citing Section 24 of the Right to Information (RTI)
Act, which says that its provisions will not apply on intelligence and security
organisations, which also include Intelligence Bureau (IB), Research and
Analysis Wing (RAW), National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Enforcement Directorate.
The CBI was
included in that list by the former UPA Government.
The Act
however clearly states that the information pertaining to the allegations of
corruption and human rights violation will not fall under the exemption given
to these organisations under Section 24 of the RTI Act.
Hyderabad-based
RTI activist CJ Karira had sought information pertaining to corruption in
several top offices of the country from the CBI, but the agency had said since
it is exempted from the RTI Act, it will not share such records.
It had also
said that the information on alleged corruption and human rights violation can
only be disclosed if the allegations are against any official of the agency.
This was an
incorrect intrepretation as the RTI Act dealt with information 'held or
controlled' by a public authority and does not make any distinction if the
allegations of corruption are against its employee or not, the CIC had noted.
In 2012, then
Chief Information Commissioner Satyananda Mishra had rejected the claims of the
agency saying when it comes to disclosure of information on allegations of
corruption, blanket immunity given to the agency from the RTI Act in Section 24
will not apply.
The agency
had challenged it in the Delhi High Court. In a judgement earlier this month,
the High Court rejected the argument of the agency and said the allegations of
corruption do not attract blanket exemption given to the agency in Section 24.
It has said
the information pertaining to allegations of corruption and human rights
violation can be denied only if they fell under Section 8(1) of the RTI Act
which gives 10 grounds on which information can be denied.
"It is
apparent from the plain reading of the first proviso to Section 24(1) of the
Act that the information pertaining to allegations of corruption and human
rights violation are not excluded from the purview," Justice Vibhu Bakhru
pointed out.
The judge
also cited a recent order of the High Court which dealt with the information
sought from the Intelligence Bureau, also an exempted organisation under the
RTI Act.
"... the
only conclusion that can be drawn is that, if the information sought pertains
to allegations of corruption and human rights violations, it would be exempt
from the exclusion clause, irrespective of the fact that the information
pertains to the exempt intelligence and security organisations or not, or
pertains to an officer of the Intelligence Bureau or not," the bench had
said in the order.
Mr Karira,
who was present in the court, stated that the information sought by him has now
become stale and he should be permitted to file a fresh application.
"In the
event such application is filed, the petitioner (the CBI) would examine the
same. Although it would not be open for the petitioner to claim that
information related to allegations of corruption in other organisation is
exempt from disclosure, however, the petitioner would be liberty to examine
whether the information sought by the petitioner is exempt under any clauses of
Section 8(1) of the RTI Act," Justice Bakhru said.
He also
upheld the cost put by the Central Information Commission to the CBI.
"The CIC
had also awarded cost of Rs. 153 to the petitioner, which the petitioner has
not paid as yet. The petitioner is directed to pay the sum along with interest
at the rate of 12 per cent per annum from October 31, 2012 till the date of
payment. Such payment as directed be paid within a period of four weeks from
today," he said.
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