Exclusion of CBI from RTI upheld

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Friday upheld the exclusion of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.The first Bench comprising Chief Justice M Y Eqbal and Justice T S Sivagnanam upheld the exclusion, while dismissing a public interest writ plea from advocate S Vijayalakshmi challenging a notification of the Union Government dated June 9 this year including the CBI within the ambit of the second schedule to the RTI Act, which granted exemption.Earlier, assisted by senior Central Government standing counsel P Chandrasekaran, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Gouravah Banerji submitted that the exemption had been granted bearing in mind the interest of the security of the country, which could not be overlooked while protecting the right of the citizens to seek information.Assisted by CBI counsel N Chandrasekaran, ASG (South) M Ravindran said that the CBI was investigating extremely sensitive cases having inter-state and global ramifications, which would have a direct bearing on the national/internal security. Hence, it had been excluded from the RTI purview.Dismissing the plea, the Bench pointed out that the CBI was dealing with so many cases of larger public interest and disclosure of information should have great impact within the country and abroad and it would jeopardise its work. Equally, the investigations done by the CBI would have a major impact on the political and economic life of the nation.There were sensitive cases being handled by the agency, which had direct nexus with the nation’s security. Once, jurisdiction was conferred upon the agency under Section 3 of the RTI Act by a notification made by the Centre, the power of investigation should be governed by the statutory provisions and could not be interfered with or stopped or curtailed by any executive instructions and should not be subjected to any executive control.The matter had been considered at all levels before a decision was arrived at and after analysing the materials placed by the CBI, the Centre had held that the CBI was a security and intelligence organization and granted exemption, the judges added.