Is the nationality of the RBI governor a part of ‘cabinet papers’?
6 Jan, 2014An application was filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act by Subhash Agrawal seeking to know whether Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan has American nationality at present or at some time earlier. The applicant also sought complete information on nationality of Rajan from his birth till date mentioning dates of change of his nationality. Further, the applicant sought to know whether rules permit a person with nationality other than Indian to become the Governor of RBI.
The Public Information Officer (PIO) of the Cabinet Secretariat declined to provide answer to the queries on the nationality of RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan citing section 8(1)(i) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, cabinet papers including records of deliberations of the Council of Ministers, Secretaries and other officers: Provided that the decisions of Council of Ministers, the reasons thereof, and the material on the basis of which the decisions were taken shall be made public after the decision has been taken, and the matter is complete, or over: Provided further that those matters which come under the exemptions specified in this section shall not be disclosed; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, cabinet papers including records of deliberations of the Council of Ministers, Secretaries and other officers: Provided that the decisions of Council of Ministers, the reasons thereof, and the material on the basis of which the decisions were taken shall be made public after the decision has been taken, and the matter is complete, or over: Provided further that those matters which come under the exemptions specified in this section shall not be disclosed; . The reply said "The proposal which is a note received from the Finance Minister being 'Cabinet paper' is exempted from disclosure under Section 8(1)(i) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, cabinet papers including records of deliberations of the Council of Ministers, Secretaries and other officers: Provided that the decisions of Council of Ministers, the reasons thereof, and the material on the basis of which the decisions were taken shall be made public after the decision has been taken, and the matter is complete, or over: Provided further that those matters which come under the exemptions specified in this section shall not be disclosed; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, cabinet papers including records of deliberations of the Council of Ministers, Secretaries and other officers: Provided that the decisions of Council of Ministers, the reasons thereof, and the material on the basis of which the decisions were taken shall be made public after the decision has been taken, and the matter is complete, or over: Provided further that those matters which come under the exemptions specified in this section shall not be disclosed; of the RTI Act 2005. However, a copy of order No 18(75) EO/13(ACC) dated August 6, 2013 conveying approval of the ACC, in the matter, is enclosed.” Section 8(1)(i) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, cabinet papers including records of deliberations of the Council of Ministers, Secretaries and other officers: Provided that the decisions of Council of Ministers, the reasons thereof, and the material on the basis of which the decisions were taken shall be made public after the decision has been taken, and the matter is complete, or over: Provided further that those matters which come under the exemptions specified in this section shall not be disclosed; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, cabinet papers including records of deliberations of the Council of Ministers, Secretaries and other officers: Provided that the decisions of Council of Ministers, the reasons thereof, and the material on the basis of which the decisions were taken shall be made public after the decision has been taken, and the matter is complete, or over: Provided further that those matters which come under the exemptions specified in this section shall not be disclosed; exempts information on cabinet documents from disclosure. However, it mandates that material, on the basis of which the decisions were taken, should be made public after the decision has been taken and the matter is complete and over.
It has been reported in the media that in a press conference last year Rajan said, "I am an Indian citizen, I have always been an Indian citizen. I always held an Indian passport. I held an Indian diplomatic passport when my father was in the foreign service and when I travelled on behalf of the ministry of finance….. I have never applied for the citizenship of another country, I have never been a citizen of another country and have never taken a pledge of allegiance to another country."