Funds allocated to individual police stations cannot be disclosed under RTI Act: Central Information Commission

The Central Information Commission (CIC) recently held that details of funds allocated to each individual police station cannot be disclosed under the Right to Information Act (RTI Act) [Faisal Bashir Vs PIO, PHQ Jammu and Kashmir, Srinagar]. .Chief Information Commissioner YK Sinha agreed with the contention of of the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) at the Police Headquarters, Srinagar that there should not be any compromise on operational secrecy and the security interests of Jammu and Kashmir by providing such information. The CIC, therefore, rejected the appeal filed by one, Faisal Bashir seeking details of funds provided to each police station in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.However, the CIC said that the overall allocation of funds for all police stations should be provided..Bashir had filed an application under the RTI Act on August 1, 2022 seeking details of funds allocated to every police station in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and for the inspection of files and relevant documents etc. However, the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) at Police Headquarters, Srinagar refused to disclose the details, stating that the information sought cannot be shared since it is classified or vital in nature and exempt from disclosure under the RTI Act..Dissatisfied, the Bashir filed an appeal before the First Appellate authority, which also refused to furnish these details saying, "The information as asked for is exempted under RTI Act, 2005, Rule 8 Sections (a, g, h and j) as such cannot be provided"..Thereafter, the appellant moved the CIC.During the hearing, he submitted that the exemption under Section 8 (1) (g) (h) and (j) of the RTI Act, 2005 was incorrectly claimed by the RTI authorities (respondent) without any reason or justification and that the information should have been proactively disclosed on the website as per Section 4(1) (b) of the Act, which has not been done..The respondent, represented by Dr G V Sundeep Chakravarty, PIO, participated in the hearing before CIC in Srinagar..He admitted that exemption under Section 8 (1)(g)(h) and (j) of the Act was perhaps claimed inadvertently and that the exemption was actually under Section 8(1)(a)..He further stated that only the overall budget allocation details are released to the media and can be provided to the appellant if so directed by the Commission. However, specific information regarding the funds allocated to each police station cannot be disclosed in order to maintain the operational secrecy and security interests of the state, he added.The CIC agreed with this argument..The CIC, therefore, directed PIO to re-examine the RTI application and provide a revised response with the overall budget allocation details, but without compromising on the operational and security interest.The same has to be done by July 31, the CIC added..In another RTI case filed by the same person, the Commission upheld the decision of the CPIO, Police Headquarters to not provide information regarding police stations and police posts operating from private property, expenditure bills, and police stations, police posts, and training centres..However, the CPIO had revealed to the applicant that at present there are 250 police stations and 232 police posts in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir..While disposing of the this appeal, Chief Information Commissioner Y K Sinha observed that "an appropriate response has been provided by the respondent. Hence, no further intervention of the commission is required in the instant matter. For redressal of his grievance, the appellant is advised to approach an appropriate forum"..[Read Order]