RTI Act: Delhi High Court orders UIDAI to provide copy of agreement with external organisation handling grievance redressal

The Delhi High Court ordered the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to provide under Right to Information Act (RTI Act), a copy of the agreement signed by the UIDAI with an external organisation for handling grievance redressal on its behalf [Prashant Reddy T v CPIO, Unique Identification Authority of India]..Justice Subramonium Prasad said that all the agreements entered into between the UIDAI and the external organisations engaged in handling grievance redressal mechanism of the UIDAI, can be provided under the RTI.The Court clarified that non-disclosure agreements entered into with the personnel and also the details of individuals who will be covered under the agreement can be redacted while providing the copies of the agreements.“The confidentiality is to be maintained by the agencies only for the purpose of ensuring that the details of the individuals are not revealed to a third party. The entire contract need not be kept a secret and there is nothing inappropriate in disclosing of the agreements more so when the recent trend is to encourage public participation in such ventures,” Justice Prasad observed.He underscored that transparency forms the core of good governance and promotes efficiency and effectiveness in the functioning of the government..The Court passed the order on a plea filed by lawyer Prashant Reddy T seeking information under the RTI Act.Reddy moved the High Court challenging a order of March 20, 2023 passed by the Central Information Commission (CIC) to the extent that it denied him the access to the copy of agreements entered into by UIDAI with the external organization for handling grievance redressal.The petitioner had filed an RTI application seeking several details regarding the grievance redressal in the UIDAI. The CIC ordered the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), UIDAI to disclose the figures of the staff handling the grievance redressal work and the number of complaints that had been disposed of. However, it rejected the petitioner’s request for the copy of the contract signed between UIDAI and the external organisation handling the grievance redressal..In a detailed order, Justice Prasad held that the contract entered into by the UIDAI with an external organization shall be considered as ‘information’ which will come within the ambit of RTI Act.Justice Prasad observed that he does not see any reason why the contracts entered into between UIDAI and third party cannot be given under the RTI Act.“The contracts have been entered into pursuant to the tenders and, therefore, it is necessary that there is a complete transparency regarding the way these contracts are awarded. The Petitioner has not sought for the details of the individuals which the external organization would be handling. However, a reading of Regulation 3(2)(m) [of Aadhaar (Data Security) Regulations, 2016] mandates that the security policy may provide for the requirement for entering into information disclosure agreements with the personnel.”The Court, therefore, modified, the CIC’s order and ordered that contract shall be furnished to the petitioner..Advocate N Sai Vinod appeared for petitioner Prashant Reddy T.Advocates Purushottam Sharma Tripathi and Ravi Chandra Prakash represented CPIO, UIDAI..[Read Judgment]