List of persons who have been granted an exemption from airport security check
13 Jun, 2013Background
The appellant filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) seeking list of persons who have been granted an exemption from airport security check for the certain period. The Public Information Officer (PIO) denied the information under section 8(1)(a) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence; of the RTI Act.The First Appellate Authority (FAA) denied the information holding that the exemption to any person from security checks is taken after following laid down procedures in MHA/ MCA; and BCAS circulates these decision to field units for implementation. This is restricted Civil Aviation Security Information which is shared on need to know basis only. The related document is classified as “RESTRICTED.”
Proceedings
During the hearing the before Central Information Commission (CIC), the appellant submitted that the RTI is a fundamental right of citizens and the denial of information can only be based on exemptions under section 8(1) of the Act.When an exemption is claimed under section 8(1)(a) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence; it is necessary that a public authority should be able to clearly justify its claim showing harm to protected interest.
View of CIC
The Commission observed that the respondent has not been able to show how the security interest of the state would be affected by disclosing the list of persons who are exempt from pre-embarkation security check at airports. The appellant had sought only the final list and as such no information is sought regarding the procedure for arriving at the same.The CIC directed the PIO to provide the final list to the appellant.
Citation: Mr. AseemTakyar v. Bureau of Civil Aviation Securityin Case No. CIC/SS/A/2012/002769
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2013/CIC/1361
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission