Leader of opposition covered under RTI, says CIC

The office of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha is covered under the Right To Information Act and should provide information as per its provisions, the Central Information Commission ruled on Thursday.

Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah said," The office of Leader of Opposition is a public authority as it is created by a notification of the government," but reserved his decision whether it is part of Lok Sabha secretariat or an independent office.

Habibullah was hearing the plea of an RTI applicant Subhash Chandra Agrawal who sought detailed information from L K Advani on the letter written by former Home Minister to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue of black money stashed in Swiss banks and Finance Minister's reply to it.

Initially Advani's office did not reply to his queries but after the complaint notice was sent by CIC, his secretary Deepak Chopra provided the communication. In his reply Chopra had said the office of leader of opposition was serviced by Lok Sabha and letter was sent to it for further action. The Lok Sabha secretariat informed him that they did not jurisdiction over the office.

When the matter reached the CIC, Chopra in a written submission said, "If the Commission holds this institution as 'public authority' then the Lok Sabha Secretariat ought to implement the provisions of the Act... It is therefore stated that the Lok Sabha Secretariat completely services the Leader of Opposition for all practical purposes and must take responsibility of implementing the RTI Act," Chopra said in his submission.

The Lok Sabha secretariat submitted if the Commission concludes that the office is a public authority under the RTI Act, it cannot be held a part of secretariat for the reason that it has no access to information held by the office. The confidential information is held by the person holding the post, it said.

"The office is under the administration and control of the Leader of Opposition and the Lok Sabha Secretariat has no role to play in its administration except for providing statutory allowances and benefits," it said. It said that it is not a necessary party in the present issue being adjudicated by the Commission. "The confidentiality and credibility of the information would also be an issue and the Lok Sabha secretariat would be reduced to a liaisoning office," the advocate representing the secretariat said.

The Commission said it needs to examine whether it is a part of Lok Sabha secretariat or an independent one. The matter of "black money" stashed in Swiss accounts surfaced during the pre-election debates when BJP leader Advani promised to make efforts to bring it back.

Image: Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah