Information related to the GoM (Naxal Division) sought under RTI

Background

The appellant sought the information related to the Group of Ministers (GoM) constituted such as, the members of each GoM, date/venue of meeting of each GoM, copies of minutes of meeting of each GoM from 2005 till date  and the report submitted by GoM. The Public Information Officer (PIO) informed the applicant that the said application was transferred to the Joint Secretary (NM.II), Naxal Management Division. The requisite information is secret in nature and the same cannot be provided under section 8 of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The First Appellate Authority (FAA) denied the information under 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; 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 RTI Act, stating that parting with the above information can prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India as well as the security and strategic interests of the State and is not in larger public interest.

Proceedings

During the hearing, the respondent submitted that the deliberations on naxal issues by the Empowered Group of Ministers are strategic in nature and includes inter-alia, the nature of anti-naxal operations, the disclosure of which can seriously affect Government’s overall strategy against Left wing Extremism and therefore, took exemption under 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; 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 RTI Act.

View of CIC

The Central Information Commission (CIC) rejected the appeal holding that the RTI application has been properly dealt with by the PIO and FAA of the respondent and that the provisions of 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; 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 RTI Act are applicable in the present case.

Citation: Mr. Kishanlal Mittal v. Ministry of Home Affairs (Naxal Division) in Appeal No.CIC/SS/A/2012/000645