Times of India: Abhinav Garg: New Delhi: Saturday, January 25, 2025.
Delhi High Court on Friday questioned if a person can seek copies of CAG reports before they are placed before Parliament or Assembly.
"It may become information only after it is tabled; it is not even information before it is tabled. For an RTI, a particular document has to turn into information. Unless it is tested before Parliament or Assembly, wherever it is, the report doesn't become information of the nature which will fall within the realm of RTI Act," a bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyay and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela orally observed in response to a plea seeking that CAG reports be made public with a rider that these have not yet been placed before the Delhi Assembly.
The senior counsel appearing for the petitioner argued that the citizens had a "right to know" under the Right to Information Act and Article 19 of the Constitution, and pressed for a direction to the lieutenant governor to place all 14 CAG reports relating to aspects of city administration online.
"In our opinion, it doesn't fall within the definition of information under RTI," HC told the petitioner, pointing out that the Constitution says that such a report shall be tabled before the House.
"Once it is tabled before the House, it becomes information within RTI," the court said, adding that the public has a right to know but not in violation of any constitutional provisions. The court underlined that Article 151 of the Constitution, which deals with CAG reports being placed before legislatures, was a "requirement".
HC court wondered if, even without complying with Article 151, the petitioner can demand that the CAG report be made public. "Unless we comply with Article 151, how can it be brought into the public domain? Which basic provision of which law is your prayer based on? Article 19 is subject to certain limitations," it told the counsel for the petitioner, who stressed the right of the Delhi voter to know the content of the reports before the national capital goes to polls on Feb 5.
"Why do you want this information before the election? You should be concerned with the report, with the information," the bench said.
"Generalised arguments will not do. We are dealing with reports prepared by a constitutional body. We have to be conscious. Unless we comply with Article 151, how can it be brought into the public domain?" the court reiterated, posting the matter for Feb 3 for further hearing.
Petitioner Brij Mohan, a retired civil servant, said Delhi voters must be aware of the state of affairs in the national capital and its financial health before casting votes in the assembly polls.
CAG, in its reports, was critical of some of AAP-led Delhi govt's policies, including its now-scrapped excise policy that allegedly caused losses to the exchequer.
The plea claimed that the reports on various issues, ranging from excise policy to pollution, had a direct impact on governance in Delhi. The petitioner sought a direction to central govt, LG and CAG to make the reports public.
.JPG)
.JPG)
