HC seeks Centre's response on exclusion of CBI from RTI Act

New Delhi, Jul 6: The Delhi High Court today (Jul 6) sought the Centre''s response on two public interest lawsuits challenging its notification exempting CBI and other key agencies from the ambit of the Right To Information (RTI) Act.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Sanjiv Khanna sought the response by August 10, issuing notices to the Centre, the Central Bureau of Investigation and the National Investigation Agency. The notices were issued on a petition filed by advocate Sitab Ali Chaudhary.

The court also issued notice to the Centre through the Cabinet Secretary and the Ministry of Personnel on a similar petition filed by advocate Ajay Agarwal alleging that the Centre had brought the notification exempting CBI from the purview of the RTI Act to prevent him from seeking documents pertaining to the Bofors gun deal.

The bench sought a detailed affidavit on both the petitions challenging the Centre's June 9 notification exempting the CBI and other agencies from the ambit of the RTI Act and fixed the matter for final hearing on August 10.

Advocate Chaudhary had contended that "the Cabinet decision on June 9, 2011 to exempt the CBI, the NIA and the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) from the purview of RTI Act i.e. giving information on demand under the 2005 Act, is unconstitutional."

PTI