Delhi High Court Stays CIC Order Directing Air Force To Disclose RTI Information About Prime Ministers' Entourage On Foreign Trips

The Delhi High Court on Friday stayed the operation of the order passed by the Central Information Commission(CIC) directing the Indian Air Force to divulge under the Right to Information Act(RTI) information relating to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's entourage on foreign trips.The stay order passed in a petition filed by the Air Force challenging the CIC direction.A single bench of Justice Navin Chawla granted interim stay to the Indian Air Force on its petition against an order dated July 8, 2020, directing the CPIO, Directorate of Personal Services, Air Headquarters, Indian Air Force, to provide details of the Prime Minister's Special Flight Returns-II to an RTI applicant Commodore Lokesh Batra (Retd.). Justice Chawla observed that under the provisions of the RTI Act, the CPIO could not provide details of anything more than the number of passengers accompanying the PM on the flight. However, this too was disputed by the CPIO. In the RTI application filed in 2018, Mr. Batra had sought certified copies of Special Flight Returns Part-I and Part-II relating to foreign visits by Prime Minister Modi and former Prime Minister Singh, undertaken by Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft, from April 1, 2013. The CPIO had submitted that Special Flight Returns relates to official records of functioning and working of the security apparatus of the Prime Minister of India which cannot be brought in public domain for safety and security reasons. "The information so sought includes details related to the entire entourage, names of Special Protection Group (SPG) personnel accompanying the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India on foreign tours for his personal safety, and the same, if disclosed, can potentially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State," the IAF submitted. CIC Order Dated July 8, 2020 "In view of the foregoing, Commission directs the CPIO to provide the certified copies of available and relevant SFR II as sought in the RTI Application after severing the name & other relevant identifying particulars of the security/SPG personnel figuring therein. The severance of record is to be followed in consonance to the provisions of Section 10 of the RTI Act. The said information shall be provided free of cost the Appellant within 15 days from the date of receipt of this order and a compliance report to this effect be duly sent to the commission by the CPIO." Commodore Batra (Retd.) pointed out that even though the order of CIC had directed the Petitioner to provide the details within 4 days, it had been 4 months and no such details were provided. He pressed that he was not even informed until early September that the CPIO, IAF intended to challenge the CIC's order. Commodore Batra has submitted before the Court that such information was traditionally disclosed and that not just officials but private persons could also be travelling with the Prime Minister, thereby implying that they would not all be exempted from disclosure under the RTI Act.

Delhi High Court Stays CIC Order Directing Air Force To Disclose RTI Information About Prime Ministers' Entourage On Foreign Trips

Shreya Agarwal

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