The New Indian Express: Hyderabad:
Thursday, 13 August 2020.
The Lok
Sabha Secretariat refused to furnish the details of MPs, who tested positive
for Covid-19, as there is no public interest in it.“The applicant has broadly
sought information relating to Covid-19 status/sickness of MPs and
officers/staff of this Secretariat which constitutes personal information as
defined in clause (j) of Section 8(1) of the RTI Act.
The
personal information sought does not involve any public interest. The
application does not disclose any larger public interest to outweigh the
disclosure of personal and confidential information of an individual available
with the Secretariat in fiduciary relationship. Therefore, the information
sought is exempted from disclosure in terms of clause 8 1 (e) & (j) of RTI
Act, 2005,” the Lok Sabha Secretariat replied to an RTI query raised by an
activist Sudheer Jalagam.
When the
applicant sought the expenditure incurred on MPs, who tested positive for
Covid-19, the Lok Sabha Secretariat replied: “The information as sought by the
applicant is vague.” On the expenditure to stop the spread of Covid in
Parliament, the Lok Sabha Secretariat said that no expenditure was incurred
from the Budget of Lok Sabha Secretariat by General Works Branch to contain the
spread of the virus.
.JPG)
.JPG)
