Disclose IB report on Sanjiv Chaturvedi: CIC

In a significant order, the Central Information Commission (CIC) on Thursday directed the Intelligence Bureau (IB), an organisation exempted from RTI Act, to make public its report on alleged harassment of whistleblower IFoS officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi, saying it pertains to allegations of Human Rights violations and corruption.

It is very rarely that India’s snooping agency is asked to disclose its records by the CIC. IB is an organisation listed under the Section 24 of the RTI Act, which exempts intelligence and security organisations from the purview of the transparency law.

The Act, however, does not extend this exemption to the material held by or under the control of such organisations, which pertains to allegations of human rights violations or corruption. The Act also does not differentiate whether allegations are against officials of the agency or not.

“The Commission approves that the copy of the IB report, concerning the appellant, as sought by him is the information pertaining to allegations of corruption and human rights violations and thus shall be given to the appellant. Hence, the Commission directs the IB or MoEF to provide certified copy of IB report relating to Sanjiv Chaturvedi, sought through RTI dated December 05, 2015, as soon as possible not beyond May 6, 2016,” Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu said.

Chaturvedi, who exposed alleged forestry scam in Haryana, had sought the copy of IB report, which was sent to Cabinet Secretary and the MoEF in August 2014, on the issue of allegedly “foisting false cases against him in retaliation of his investigation and reports against major corruption in the state”.