Letter from petroleum ministry to law ministry goes missing
20 Jun, 2013The Ministry of Law has admitted before the Central Information Commission (CIC) that the letter from the Ministry of Petroleum asking the law ministry to replace the then Additional Solicitor General (ASG) A S Chandiok from a case against Essar Steel is untraceable. The CIC had ordered the ministry to disclose communication and file notings related to replacing Chandiok after the hearing of an appeal.
The case was related to an application filed under the Right to Information seeking to get copy of the letter written by the Petroleum Ministry in which it had asked the law ministry to replace the ASG from the Essar case wherein the Essar Steel had filed a petition in Delhi High Court challenging the reduction in supply of natural gas from the Reliance KG-D6 fields to non-core sectors as envisaged by the oil ministry.
During the hearing of the case, the CIC had rejected the contention of the Petroleum Ministry that the demanded information was confidential as it related to a sensitive issue.