Disclosure of National Pharmaceutical Policy, 2006 under RTI

Background

The appellant sought information related to the meetings Group of Ministers (GoM) regarding National Pharmaceutical Policy, 2006, such as the date/venue of meetings, certified copies of minutes of the meetings and a copy of the report submitted by the GoM for a certain period. The Public Information Officer (PIO) provided details of date/venue of meetings held by the GoM but denied rest of the information 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 Right to Information (RTI) Act. During the hearing the respondent submitted that report was not yet finalized and subsequently it would be submitted to the Cabinet for final decision in the matter.

View of CIC

The Central Information Commission (CIC) rejected the appeal observing that the report of GoM was yet to be submitted to the Cabinet for its decision, thus the provisions of 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 were applicable to it.

Citation: Mr. Kishanlal Mittal v. Department of Pharmaceuticals, in Case No. CIC/SS/A/2012/000096