Seeking information regarding 2G spectrum allocation using RTI
31 Jan, 2013Background
The appellant referred to newspaper reports about some meetings between the then Telecom Minister and Finance Minister in respect of the 2G spectrum allocation and filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Department of Economic Affairs seeking details related to the meetings such as, the dates on which such meetings took place, the agenda and the minutes of these meetings. The Public Information Officer (PIO) denied the information stating that the desired documents had been presented to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) set up by the Parliament to look into the 2G spectrum allocations and the JPC had advised the Department to treat the documents furnished to it as confidential till it submitted its report to the Parliament.
View of CIC
The Central Information Commission (CIC) observed that the desired information has been specifically prohibited by the Joint Parliamentary Committee from disclosure and thus the disclosure would lead to the breach of Parliamentary privilege. This information is exempt from disclosure under section 8(1)(c) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information, the disclosure of which would cause a breach of privilege of Parliament or the State Legislature; of the RTI Act. The CIC advised the appellant to wait till the JPC submits its report to the Parliament and then apply for the same information again.
Citation: Mr. Deepak Saluja v. Department of Economic Affairs in File No. CIC/SM/A/2012/000801
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2013/CIC/1010
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission