Use of Tamil language in the proceedings of Madras HC - copy of comments of the CJI denied - consultation about the proposal to introduce Tamil not yet complete – CIC: an emotive issue and disclosure can cause law and order problem - denied u/s 8(1)(a)
31 Aug, 2013Order
1. In his RTI application, the Appellant had quoted some communication from the Ministry of Law and Justice in which there was a reference about some comments received from the Chief Justice of India on the proposal of the State Government of Tamil Nadu for the use of Tamil language in the judgement, decree and proceedings of the Madras High Court. He wanted a copy of the letter in which the Chief Justice had given his comments. Similarly, he had also wanted to get the copies of the comments of the Chief Justice(s) regarding the introduction of Hindi language in the High Courts of certain states of India. The CPIO had refused to disclose the said letter containing the comments of the Chief Justice of India on the ground that the process of consultation in this regard was not yet complete and, therefore, the desired information would be covered under the exemption provision contained in section 8(1)(e) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information available to a person in his fiduciary relationship, unless the competent authority is satisfied that the larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; and section 8(1)(j) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Not satisfied with this, the Appellant had preferred an appeal. The Appellate Authority had endorsed the stand taken by the CPIO and dismissed the appeal.
2. During the hearing, the respondents submitted that the process of consultation about the proposal to introduce Tamil in the functioning of the Madras High Court was not yet complete and, therefore, in their opinion, the desired information should not be disclosed as it could adversely affect that process. Besides, they also submitted that the demand for introduction of Tamil language in the Madras High Court was an emotive issue and the disclosure of any information regarding that before a final view was taken by all concerned authorities could have serious law and order implications. Therefore, they would think that this information would also be covered under the exemption provision contained in 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 Right to Information (RTI) Act.
3. We have carefully considered all the records of the case and the submissions made before us. The information which the Appellant has sought relates to an issue which, if disclosed prematurely, before it is finally decided after wide consultations with all the stakeholders, can always cause serious law and order problem as the information could be interpreted variously by all interested parties to arouse regional emotions. Therefore, there seems to be a lot of merit in the submissions of the respondents that the comments of the CJI, if any, on the proposal for introduction of Tamil language in the proceedings of the Madras High Court should not be disclosed at this stage. The exemption provisions contained in 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 Right to Information (RTI) Act are clearly attracted to this kind of information.
4. In the light of the above, we are not inclined to allow the disclosure of the desired information. The appeal is disposed off accordingly.
(Satyananda Mishra)
Chief Information Commissioner
Citation: Sh. M Pari v. Supreme Court of India in File No.CIC/SM/A/2013/000074