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2023 Supreme(Telangana) 256

SUREPALLI NANDA
Alla Ram Prathap – Appellant
Versus
State of Telangana – Respondent


Advocates:
Advocate Appeared:
For the Appellant : S Surender Reddy

Judgement Key Points

Certainly. Based on the provided legal document, here are the key points:

  1. The petitioner, Alla Ram Prathap, filed a writ petition challenging the refusal of the second respondent to furnish copies of vigilance reports under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005. The reports were submitted after investigation was completed, and the investigation was not ongoing at the time of the request (!) (!) .

  2. The petitioner’s case is that the land in question was owned and possessed by the petitioner’s mother and subsequently inherited by the petitioner’s family, with proper revenue records and ownership documents supporting this claim (!) (!) .

  3. The land was allegedly subjected to unauthorized mutation in favor of land grabbers without notice or proper verification, prompting the petitioner to file a complaint and seek investigation and action against the responsible officers (!) (!) .

  4. The Vigilance and Enforcement Department conducted an investigation and submitted reports, which the petitioner requested copies of under the RTI Act. The second respondent rejected the request, citing Section 8(1)(h) of the RTI Act, claiming the reports were preliminary and not final (!) (!) .

  5. The respondents contended that the reports are preliminary in nature and that furnishing them could impede ongoing or future investigations or actions, thus justifying withholding under Section 8(1)(h) (!) (!) .

  6. The petitioner argued that the investigation reports are conclusive once submitted and cannot be considered merely preliminary, and that withholding such information violates the principles of natural justice and the RTI Act (!) (!) .

  7. The court observed that the order rejecting the RTI application failed to provide cogent reasons or specific circumstances demonstrating how disclosure would impede investigations or prosecutions, and that the denial was unreasonable (!) (!) .

  8. The court emphasized that the exclusion under Section 8(1)(h) must be read in conjunction with constitutional provisions and that any denial of information should be reasonable and in the interest of public order (!) .

  9. The court relied on the legal principle that once an investigation is complete and reports are submitted, they are generally conclusive, and withholding them must be justified with specific reasons showing how disclosure would impede the process (!) .

  10. The court remanded the matter back to the second respondent for a fresh consideration, requiring them to provide a reasoned order after re-evaluating the RTI request in accordance with law, within three weeks (!) .

  11. The court found that the respondents’ reliance on the reports being preliminary was not adequately supported and that the order was therefore unsustainable. The petition was allowed, and the original order was set aside (!) .

  12. There was no order as to costs, and any pending miscellaneous petitions were closed (!) .

Please let me know if you need further analysis or specific legal advice regarding this case.


ORDER :

Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned Government Pleader for General Administration.

2. This Writ Petition is filed to issue a Writ, Order or direction, more particularly a Writ of Mandamus declaring the order passed by the 2nd respondent vide letter No.1425/V&E/D1/RTI/2022, dated 12.10.2022 in rejecting the request of the petitioner to furnish the copy of the vigilance report No.86 (1764/V&E/D1/2020) and 863/V&E/D1/2022, dated 19.07.2022 by invoking Section 8(1)(h) of RTI Act, 2005, though the report was submitted after completing the investigation and the investigation was not in process, as illegal, arbitrary, abuse of process of law and is a clear case of violation of principles of natural justice and contrary to rules and the provisions of Right to Information Act, 2005 and set aside the order passed by the 2nd respondent vide letter No.1425/V&E/D1/RTI/2022, dated 12.10.2022 by further directing the 2nd respondent to furnish copy of the vigilance report No.86 (1764/V&E/D1/2020) and 863/V&E/D1/2022, dated 19.07.2022 submitted by the 3rd respondent to the Government.

3. The case of the petitioner, in brief, is as follows:

a) The mother of the petitioner AllaSa

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