The Hindu: New Delhi: Monday, January 29, 2018.
The names of
delegation members accompanying Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his foreign
visits should be disclosed, Chief Information Commissioner R.K. Mathur has
directed the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
Mr. Mathur
rejected the objection by the PMO in disclosing the information on grounds of
“national security”.
Deciding two
separate cases, Mr. Mathur, however, exempted the PMO from disclosing the names
of security personnel and people linked to the security details of the Prime
Minister.
“The
Commission is of the view that the name/list of non-government persons [having
no connection with the security] who had accompanied the Prime Minister on his
international visits...should be provided to the appellant,” he said.
The cases
came before the Central Information Commission the final appellate authority in
matters related to Right to Information (RTI) after applicants Neeraj Sharma
and Ayub Ali did not receive a proper response to their applications seeking
details of delegation members accompanying the Prime Minister on his foreign
visits.
Mr. Sharma
had sought the list of CEOs of private business, owners or partners, private
business officials etc. who accompanied Mr. Modi on his international visits.
Mr. Ali
wanted to know the details of monthly expenses of Mr. Modi’s residence and
office; procedure for meeting him; number of meetings held by the Prime
Minister with public at his residence and office; number of electoral public
meetings addressed by him and the government expenditure on them.
Mr. Sharma
filed the RTI application in July, 2017, while Mr. Ali’s application was filed
before the PMO in April, 2016.
In a recent
order, Mr. Mathur directed the country’s top office to provide information
within 30 days.
During the
hearing, Mr. Sharma told Mr. Mathur that he has been informed that the list of
members of delegation accompanying the Prime Minister on domestic and foreign
tours cannot be disclosed on security grounds as the same is exempted under
Section 8(1)(a) of the RTI Act.
“(Mr. Sharma)
stated that this same information was available on the website during the
tenure of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,” Mr. Mathur noted.
The PMO
stated that details of the Prime Minister’s visits are available on their
website, he pointed out.
However, the
names of the delegation members accompanying the Prime Minister on domestic and
foreign visits cannot be disclosed due to security reasons as the threats
differ from person to person, it said.
“Further, the
respondent [PMO] stated that the composition of the Prime Minister’s team
cannot be revealed to the appellant on ‘national security’ grounds,” Mr. Mathur
noted in Mr. Ali’s order.
In the order,
Mr. Mathur said that the PMO Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) has
stated that budget details are available on their website, which the appellant
may access on the given web-link.
“Besides, he
[the CPIO] stated that they do not have records of electoral meetings held by
the Prime Minister,” he said.
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