The details of spending made on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s air travel during foreign visits may soon become public. The Central Information Commission has asked Air India to disclose complete records related to bills raised for foreign visits of Modi. The central information body underlined that since the expenditure is from the public exchequer, it cannot be withheld under the “cloak” of commercial confidence and fiduciary capacity.
The CIC rejected Air India’s argument that the information relates to commercial confidence and is held by the public sector undertaking in a fiduciary capacity, making it exempt from disclosure. “Moreover, by no stretch of imagination, it can be acceptable that the information regarding dates, duration and places of visit by the PM in his official capacity are exempted u/s sections 8 or 9 of the RTI Act (the exemption clauses under the RTI Act),” Information Commissioner Amitava Bhattacharyya ruled.
Bhattacharyya held that individual bill and dates of receipt of amounts involved “expenditure out of public exchequer”. The CIC said that that Air India’s denial to part with the sought for information without citing any exemption clause under the RTI Act is “not acceptable”.
09/05/18 Financial Express
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