India Today: New Delhi: Wednesday, December 06, 2017.
The Delhi
High Court today set aside an order of the transparency panel CIC denying an
RTI applicants plea for information on who all received security from central
agencies and at what cost.
Justice Vibhu
Bakhru sent the matter back to the Central Information Commission (CIC) to
consider afresh the rival contentions and pass an appropriate order.
The court set
aside the transparency panels October 28, 2016 decision, saying the CIC was
required to examine whether the information sought was exempted under the Right
to Information Act, which it appeared not to have done.
The court
also disagreed with the Centres argument that disclosing information on who all
were being protected, would endanger the lives of the protectees.
"How
does it endanger someones life by saying who is protected or how much it has
cost," it asked.
The CIC in
its order had said that the information sought cannot be provided as the same
has not been given even to Parliament.
Under the RTI
Act, any information which cannot be provided to Parliament cannot be disclosed
under the transparency law, it had said.
Disagreeing
with the CIC stand, the court said in the instant matter, it was nobodys case
that Parliament had sought such information or that it cannot be provided to
Parliament.
After sending
the matter back to CIC, the court disposed of the plea moved by RTI applicant
Deepak Juneja, through advocate Ayush Arora, challenging the CIC decision.
Juneja,
according to his plea, had first sought the information on July 5, 2014 which
was denied by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Thereafter,
his appeals to the First Appellate Authority and later the CIC also were not
successful.
Subsequently,
he moved the high court against the CIC order of October last year. PTI HMP SKV
PPS ARC
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