HC stays CIC order on Indira papers

NEW DELHI:The Delhi high court on Tuesday stayed a Central Information Commission ( CIC) order directing Rashtrapati Bhavan to disclose all the documents, including the communication of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, on the declaration of the 1975 Emergency.

Terming the documents as “classified and privileged” , the central public information officer of Rashtrapati Bhavan challenged the CIC order, saying the President’s Secretariat is not liable to disclose the information and CIC has no jurisdiction to pass such a direction.

Issuing notice to Subhash Chandra Aggarwal, the RTI applicant, Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw stayed the CIC’s order till the court's further order.

On June 15, the Commission had directed the President’s office to make public all the documents on the declaration of the Emergency by President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed in 1975, including communication from Indira Gandhi.

However, the transparency panel exempted from disclosure any "advice " tendered by Gandhi to Ahmed on the imposition of Emergency as it would be a privileged document under Article 74 of the Constitution which could not be made public.