Deccan Chronicle: Hyderabad: Saturday, 8th
March 2025.
The Telangana High Court directed the state government to inform its contentions in a petition, which complained that the state intelligence was on its own giving exemptions on providing information to RTI applications regarding the law and order situation when K. Chandrashekar Rao was Chief Minister.
The Telangana High Court
directed the state government to inform its contentions in a petition, which
complained that the state intelligence was on its own giving exemptions on
providing information to RTI applications regarding the law and order situation
when K. Chandrashekar Rao was Chief Minister.
Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy was dealing with a petition filed by one Farhat Ibrahim, who claimed to be a co-founder of TRS (presently BRS). He claimed that the intelligence department was not giving information about his complaints against the then government in 2015. He said that he had received a tip-off that his phone was tapped during the BRS rule. He complained to the Union home ministry and the state government and had urged the then Governor to allow him to prosecute Rao on phone-tapping allegations.
After that, in 2024, he filed an RTI application seeking status of his 2015 complaints. But, the state intelligence department rejected his application, explaining that their department and branches were exempted from the provisions of the RTI Act under Section 24(4), citing GO Ms. No. 667, general administration (GPM&AR) department, dated 03.09.2007.
Mahesh Mamindla, counsel for the petitioner, argued that the second provision of Section 24(1) statesd that "information pertaining to allegations of corruption and human rights violations shall not be excluded under this sub-section."
Considering it, the High Court directed the state government to inform its contentions.
The Telangana High Court directed the state government to inform its contentions in a petition, which complained that the state intelligence was on its own giving exemptions on providing information to RTI applications regarding the law and order situation when K. Chandrashekar Rao was Chief Minister.
Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy was dealing with a petition filed by one Farhat Ibrahim, who claimed to be a co-founder of TRS (presently BRS). He claimed that the intelligence department was not giving information about his complaints against the then government in 2015. He said that he had received a tip-off that his phone was tapped during the BRS rule. He complained to the Union home ministry and the state government and had urged the then Governor to allow him to prosecute Rao on phone-tapping allegations.
After that, in 2024, he filed an RTI application seeking status of his 2015 complaints. But, the state intelligence department rejected his application, explaining that their department and branches were exempted from the provisions of the RTI Act under Section 24(4), citing GO Ms. No. 667, general administration (GPM&AR) department, dated 03.09.2007.
Mahesh Mamindla, counsel for the petitioner, argued that the second provision of Section 24(1) statesd that "information pertaining to allegations of corruption and human rights violations shall not be excluded under this sub-section."
Considering it, the High Court directed the state government to inform its contentions.
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