New Delhi, Apr 18: The Supreme Court today dismissed the plea of a RTI applicant seeking disclosure of “religion and faith” of UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and her children under the Right to Information Act. A bench of justices R V Raveendran and A K Patnaik upheld the Punjab and Haryana High Court order which had said that such informations cannot be revealed as it would amount to encroachment on their privacy.
The Bench dismissed the appeal of former Haryana DGP P C Wadhwa seeking details of religion and faith mentioned by Sonia Gandhi and her children during the last census under the RTI from the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of the office of Registrar General, Census Operations, under the Union Home Ministry.
Senior Advocate M N Krishnamani, appearing for the petitioner, pleaded that there was nothing wrong in disclosing such information by the government as they were public figures, who had projected certain public image regarding their religion and faith.
Wadhwa had first approached the Central Information Commission (CIC) after the government refused to part away with the information but it was rejected in year 2008. He then moved the High Court which also refused to give any relief to him and dismissed his plea.
The High Court, while passing the order in November last, had said, “It is evident that the petitioner is making efforts to make unjustified inroads into the privacy of the individuals even if they are public figure and consequently the information cannot be made public.” PTI
