List of persons to whom security is provided by state
29 Mar, 2013Background
The appellant filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) seeking information regarding provision of security by the State to individuals who apprehend threat of life. He specifically wanted to know the provisions under which security was provided to such individuals; list of persons to whom security is provided all over the country and the provisions under which security is provided by the Maharashtra State Government to terrorists involved in the Mumbai attack on 26.11.2008. The Public Information Officer (PIO) provided the provisions but denied the list of persons under section 8(1)(g) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information, the disclosure of which would endanger the life or physical safety of any person or identify the source of information or assistance given in confidence for law enforcement or security purposes; of the RTI Act. Regarding the provisions under which security is provided by the Maharashtra State Government, he forwarded the application to State Government of Maharashtra stating that the matter relates to them. The First Appellate Authority (FAA) concurred with the reply of the PIO and observed that the RTI Act requires the respondent to supply only such information which already exists and is held by the public authority or under the control of the public authority.
View of CIC
The Central Information Commission (CIC) observed that requisite information has been provided to the appellant. Regarding the transfer of part of the RTI application to the Government of Maharashtra, the CIC held that since the query related to the State Government, it has been righty forwarded. The CIC noted that security is provided to individuals by concerned State Governments/ Union Territories and in some cases by the Central government. The appeal was rejected by the CIC stating that such a list of persons to whom security has been provided all over the country is not held by the Public Authority and they are not required to create information under the RTI Act.
Citation: Mr. Pawan Agarwal v. Ministry of Home Affairs in Case No. CIC/SS/A/2011/000158
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2013/CIC/1157
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