Disclosure of the names of members of President’s family who formed part of official delegation
17 Dec, 2012Background
The appellant filed four applications under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the President’s Secretariat seeking a variety of information on different subjects. The Public Information Officer (PIO) provided some information.
Proceeding
During the hearing before the Central Information Commission (CIC), the appellant pointed out that there were some specific items of information which had not been given to him without assigning any convincing reason.
View of CIC
The Central Information Commission (CIC) directed the PIO as under:
i. The copy of the letter written by Dr Subramanyam Swamy to the then President on the formation of the Council of Ministers to be provided after following the procedure laid down in section 11, if the CPIO considers such consultation necessary.
ii. Regarding the provision of accommodation for the then President in Pune after her demitting office, the PIO was directed to transfer the remaining queries to the MHA.
iii. The available information including file noting in respect of the cognisance taken by the then President / the President Secretariat of a particular news item and the action taken, if any, to be provided.
iv. The copy of the invitation received from the President of Seychelles, if available in material form to be provided. As the CPIO said that this was available with the CCB and hence could not be disclosed, the CIC directed the PIO to write to the appellant once again either providing the copy of the invitation or, if he decides to deny it, then to pass a speaking order citing the appropriate exemption provision of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The CIC also directed the PIO to provide the names of those members of the delegation during the visit who comprised the family of the President.
Citation: Mr. Subhash Chandra Agarwal v. President’s Secretariat in File No.CIC/SM/A/2012/000930, 931, 1052, 1081, 1129 & 1303
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2012/CIC/879
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission