Vinod Kumar Bindal Vs Central Information Commissioner And Ors. (Delhi High Court)
IC to reconsider RTI application as inclusion of name in Undesirable Contact Men list is violation of human rights
Delhi High Court held that inclusion of name in Undesirable Contact Men by CBI resulted into violation of human rights. Hence, matter remanded to Central Information Commission (CIC) to verify whether information sought falls within the exception carried out in the proviso to Section 24(1) of the RTI Act.
Facts- The present petition has been filed by the petitioner challenging the order dated 19.12.2017, passed by respondent no. 1, i.e., the Central Information Commission (CIC). The impugned order dismissed the petitioner’s second appeal under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act).
The petitioner is a practicing Chartered Accountant, residing in New Delhi. His name was included in a list of “Undesirable Contact Men” (UCM) which was allegedly circulated by the CBI and subsequently published in various newspaper clippings. The petitioner submits that the publication of this list has significantly tarnished the petitioner’s professional reputation.
Aggrieved by the inclusion of his name in the UCM list, the petitioner filed an RTI application dated 19.07.2016 with the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of the CBI, seeking specific details regarding his name’s presence on the list, the reasons for such inclusion, and the procedure followed. The said RTI application was rejected. Being aggrieved, the present petition is filed.
