RTI Court Decision: HC blocks Narayanan-Vajpayee letters on Gujarat riots

[Sajib Nandi]

Reported by Hindustantimes.com on July 11, 2012
HC blocks Narayanan-Vajpayee letters on Gujarat riots - Hindustan Times

The Delhi high court on Wednesday set aside the Central Information Commission (CIC) order allowing disclosure of the correspondence between then President KR Narayanan and Prime Minister AB Vajpayee on the Gujarat riots of 2002.

Justice Anil Kumar allowed the central government's plea filed against the CIC order of Aug 8, 2006. The CIC had asked the government to disclose all the letters sent by Narayanan to Vajpayee from Feb 28, 2002, to March 15, 2002, relating to the Gujarat riots. Tne release of letters was sought by C Ramesh through the Right to Information Act.

"The order of the CIC dated Aug 8, 2006, is liable to be set aside and the CIC cannot direct the petitioner (government) to produce the correspondence between the president and the prime minister," said the judge.

"Respondent No 2 (C Ramesh) is not entitled for the correspondence sought by him, which was exchanged between the president and the prime minister relating to the Gujarat riots," ruled Justice Kumar, who retires Wednesday.

The government, quoting Articles 74 and 78 of the Constitution, submitted that any advice tendered by the union council of ministers or correspondence exchanged between the President and the Prime Minister enjoyed immunity from public scrutiny.

The government said the correspondence between the president and the prime minister were "classified" and "privileged" documents under Article 74 and hence the provisions of the RTI could not overide the same.

"By virtue of Article 361 of the Constitution, the deliberations between the prime minister and the president enjoy complete immunity as the documents are 'classified documents' and thus enjoy immunity from disclosure not because of their contents but because of the class to which they belong, and therefore the disclosure of the same is protected in public interest," the government said.

It complained that the CIC erroneously applied the provisions of Section 6 of the RTI Act in seeking the classified documents from the government.

The government had sought the quashing of the impugned judgment of the CIC on the ground that the disclosure of the information Ramesh sought "relates to Gujarat riots and any disclosure of the same would prejudicially affect the national security, sovereignty and integrity of India".

[Sajib Nandi]

Sponsorer

Talks between PM-Prez not under RTI: HC


Reported by English.samaylive.com on 11 Jul 2012
Talks between PM-Prez not under RTI: HC

The Delhi High Court set aside a CIC's order to the Centre to reveal the communication between erstwhile Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and President K R Narayanan over the 2002 Gujarat riots.


Justice Anil Kumar gave the order, allowing the Centre's appeal against the CIC's directions.

"In the facts and circumstances, the order of the CIC of August 8, 2006 is liable to be set aside and the CIC cannot direct the petitioner (Centre) to produce the correspondence between the President and the Prime Minister.

"Since the CIC is not entitled to peruse the correspondence between the President and the Prime Minister, as it is be barred under Article 74(2) of the Constitution of India, the application of the petitioner seeking such an information will also be not maintainable," said the judge.

Article 74(2) of the Constitution bars the disclosure of the advice given by the Council of Ministers to the President.

While setting aside the order of the full bench of the CIC, Justice Kumar, who is demitting office today, also dismissed RTI applicant C Ramesh's plea saying he was not "entitled" to the communications exchanged between the then President and Prime Minister over the Gujarat riots.

Ramesh's request for making public the communications under the Right to Information (RTI) Act had been denied by the Central Public Information Officer and his appeal against the denial was also dismissed, subsequent to which he had moved the apex transparency panel CIC.

A full bench of the CIC on August 8, 2006 had called for the correspondences, sought by Ramesh, to examine whether their disclosure would serve or harm the public interest, after which it would issue appropriate orders.

The Centre had approached the Delhi High Court against the CIC order claiming that such disclosures would affect the sovereignty and integrity of the country.

[karira]

Full Delhi HC Judgment is available here:

Correspondence between prsident and PM not to be d - Downloads - RTI INDIA- Right to Information

[RAVEENA_O]

Delhi High Court quashes CIC order

As reported in The Hindu on July, 12 by Nirnimesh Kumar




The Delhi High Court on Wednesday quashed the Central Information Commission’s (CIC) order asking the Centre to produce letters exchanged between former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and former President the late K.R. Narayanan, over the Gujarat riots.


The Commission had directed the Government to produce the letters exchanged between Mr. Vajpayee and Mr. Narayanan, between February 28, 2002 and March 15, 2002, while hearing a petition filed by RTI activist C. Ramesh, who sought the disclosure of the correspondence in public interest. The CIC wanted to peruse the letters and decide whether their disclosure would serve or harm public interest .


The Government had challenged the interim order of the CIC before the High Court, saying that the letters exchanged between the-then Prime Minister and President constituted advice given by the Prime Minister and his council of ministers, and hence was barred from disclosure under Article 74 (2) of the Constitution.


The Additional Solicitor General argued that as no court could inquire into the correspondence between the Prime Minister and the President, the CIC could not look into them as well.


The Commission argued that the bar under Section 74(2) was not absolute and was subject to the provisions of the RTI Act and the only exception for not disclosing the information was provided under Sections 8 and 11 of the RTI Act.
However, Justice Anil Kumar dismissed the Commission’s arguments and held: “The plea that the CIC can call the documents under Section 18 of RTI Act, therefore, cannot be sustained. If the bar under Article 74(2) is absolute so far as it pertains to advices, even under Section 18 such bar cannot be whittled down or diluted nor can the respondents contend that the CIC is entitled to see that correspondence and consequently the respondent No. 2 [C. Ramesh] is entitled for the same.’’


“ For the foregoing reasons and in the facts and circumstances, the order of the CIC dated 8{+t}{+h}August, 2006 is liable to be set aside and the CIC cannot direct the petitioner to produce the correspondence between the President and the Prime Minister, and since the CIC is not entitled to peruse the correspondence between the President and the Prime Minister, as it is be barred under Article 74(2) of the Constitution of India, the application of the petitioner seeking such an information will also be not maintainable,’’ Justice Kumar said.

[RAVEENA_O]

HC: Prez, PM letters during Gujarat riots can't be revealed

As reported in The Hindustan Times by Harish V Nair, Hindustan Times
New Delhi, July 11, 2012 HC: Prez, PM letters during Gujarat riots can't be revealed - Hindustan Times


The Delhi High Court on Wednesday held that communication between the President and Prime Minister was "privileged" and, therefore, could not be revealed under the Right to Information Act.

The court made this clear while setting aside a 2006 Central Information Commission (CIC) order that directed the Centre to reveal correspondence between then president KR Narayanan and prime minister AB Vajpayee, relating to the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Justice Anil Kumar, who demitted office on Wednesday, passed the order on an appeal filed by the Centre against the CIC's order, asking it to give the RTI petitioner access to all letters sent by Narayanan to Vajpayee from February 28, 2002, to March 15, 2002, relating to the riots.


Court upheld the contention of additional solicitor general AS Chandihok and the Centre's lawyer, Sumeet Pushkarna, stating that such a disclosure is exempt under the RTI Act because it could affect national security.

"Since the CIC is not entitled to peruse the correspondence between the President and the Prime Minister, as it is barred under Article 74(2) of the Constitution of India, the application of the petitioner seeking such an information will also not be maintainable," said the judge.


As it has already been established, the CIC cannot claim parity with judges of the Supreme Court and high courts. Though the judges of these courts may peruse the material in exercise of their power under Article 32 and 226 of the Constitution of India, the CIC has no such power.