CBI not fully exempt under Right to Information Act

Background of the Case

• A petition was filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (‘CBI’), seeking to challenge the order dated 25-11-2019 passed by the Central Information Commission (‘CIC’) allowing an appeal filed by the Respondent herein and directing the Central Public Information Officer (‘CPIO’), CBI Anti-Corruption Branch, Delhi to provide certified copies of all the file documents related to the investigation done by CBI on corruption complaint regarding procurement of fogging solution and disinfectant for the Medical Store in Trauma Centre, AIIMS, New Delhi.
• In the present writ petition, petitioner contends that the Section 24 of the RTI Act is a complete bar on disclosure of information under the Right to Information Act, 2005 by the organizations mentioned under Second Schedule of the Act. Since, CBI is listed in the Second Schedule of the Act, the petitioner refused to share the information, claiming it was exempt from the RTI Act.

Petitioner- Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), CBI

Respondent- Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) at AIIMS

Issues raised before High Court

Whether CBI was obligated to share information to the respondent regarding corruption complaint as per the order dated 25-11-2019.

Judgment

Delhi High Court ruled that the CBI is not completely exempt from the Right to Information (‘RTI’) Act. The court’s ruling is based on the proviso to Section 24 of the RTI Act, which allows information about corruption and human rights violations to be shared.

In this case, the information requested was about corruption in purchasing cleaning supplies at a hospital, which isn’t sensitive enough to be exempt. This is not a case where sensitive information has been collected by the CBI and the disclosure of which would be prejudicial for the officers involved. This is also not a case where information is so sensitive that it cannot be shared with the public at large. However, the court said the CBI can refuse to share sensitive information if it’s necessary to protect ongoing investigations or the safety of people involved. Otherwise, it should share information about corruption allegations.

Source

• CPIO, CBI v Sanjeev Chaturvedi, 2024 SCC OnLine Del 692, decided on 30-01-2024
• CPIO, Intelligence Bureau v. Sanjiv Chaturvedi, 2017 SCC OnLine Del 10084