CBI to revisit website to see if section 4 was implemented before exclusion from RTI Act
29 Jan, 2013
Background
The appellant filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) seeking a variety of information from the about the functioning of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the expenses incurred by it. The Public Information Officer (PIO), DoPT transferred the application to the CBI. The CBI informed him that the provisions of the RTI Act no longer applied to it since it had been included in the second schedule of that Act and thus, no information can be disclosed.
Proceeding
During the hearing before the Central Information Commission (CIC), the appellant submitted that the information sought by him did not concern such issues that the CBI should not disclose. He argued that such information should be proactively disclosed by the CBI for the benefit of the public, some of this information those relating to the officers and employees of the CBI are supposed to be placed in the public domain in compliance with the provisions of section 4(1)(b) of the RTI Act.
View of CIC
The Commission directed the PIO to revisit their website to see if such information had been placed there before it was included in the second schedule. The CIC held that CBI can no longer be compelled to disclose the desired information under RTI because of its inclusion in the second schedule to that RTI Act.
Citation: Mr. Krishnanand Tripathi v. Central Bureau of Investigation in File No. CIC/SM/A/2012/001198
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2013/CIC/999
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission