The court clarified the scope of exemptions under the RTI Act and emphasized that information related to statutory compliances may not be exempt from disclosure.

VIBHU BAKHRU, J.

1. The petitioner (CPIO) has filed the present petition impugning an order dated 21.11.2016 passed by the Central Information Commission (hereafter “CIC”) directing the petitioner to inform whether any security clearance was given to one Shri Hameed Ali who is stated to be working with M/s Jet Airways Ltd. on senior management positions.

2. Respondent no.2 had filed an application under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (hereafter “the Act”) on 19.04.2015, inter alia, seeking the following information:-

“Under the provisions of RTI please supply the following information. It is learnt that one Mr. Hameed Ali, presently Group Advisor, Jet Airways and Etihad Airways, has been working with M/s Jet Airways India Limited since 2008 in various senior management positions namely Vice-President Operations, Executive Vice-President Operations, Chief Operating Officer, Accountable Manager – M/s Jet Lite Limited and Acting Chief Executive Officer-M/S Jet Airways India Limited. Further it is understood that this Mr. Hameed Ali is a foreigner, a national of Bahrain. 1. Kindly provide a copy of the security clearance and its renewal if any, obtained by Jet Airways towards employment of Mr. Hameed Ali.”

3. The information as sought for by the respondent no.2 was denied by the CPIO on the ground that any comments of the Ministry of Home Affairs on any proposal seeking security clearance are based on inputs received from Intelligence Agencies which are exempted from the Act by virtue of Section 24 of the Act. The CPIO further claimed that the information as sought for was also exempt from the Act by virtue of Section 8(1)(g) of the Act. Dissatisfied with aforesaid response, the said respondent preferred an appeal before the First Appellate Authority (FAA), which was also rejected by an order dated 08.07.2015. The FAA, also held that the information as sought for by respondent no.2 was exempt in terms of Section 8(1)(g) of the Act since the disclosure of information relating to security clearance of entities/individuals in sensitive sectors of the economy can prejudicially affect the economic interests of the state.

4. The respondent no.2 appealed against the decision of the FAA, which was allowed by the impugned order. The operative part of the impugned order reads as under:-

“The Commission, after hearing the submission of both the parties and perusing the records, observes that the information has been denied to the appellant on the ground of Sections 8(1)(g) and 24(1) of the RTI Act. However, keeping in view the nature of information sought, the Commission is of the opinion that the exemptions invoked by the respondent would not be applicable to the present case and at best, exemptions available in the present case could be that the information sought relates to a third party. However, no such exemption was claimed by the respondent. The Commission, is of the opinion that the information sought, if disclosed, would serve large public interest since it relates to the issue of security clearance of a person who is working as a senior functionary in the Aviation Sector and not following proper procedures while granting security clearance to such persons could pose a grave threat to the security and safety of the passengers, who travel by air. In view of this, the Commission, directs the respondent to inform the appellant whether any security clearance was given to one Shri Hameed Ali or not, within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this decision.”

5. The learned counsel appearing for the petitioner submitted that the information regarding security clearance emanates from intelligence agencies and in terms of Section 24 of the Act, such agencies were outside the purview of the Act. She further pointed out that not only were the organizations mentioned in the schedule to Act are outside the sweep of the Act, but in terms of Section 24 of the Act, any information received by the government from such or