The Delhi High Court has ruled that while the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is exempted from the provisions of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, it can be compelled to provide information related to human rights violations, including allegations of sexual harassment.
This decision was made in response to two petitions filed by the ED challenging two orders of the Central Information Commission (CIC) that had directed the disclosure of specific information to RTI applicants.
In one case, an applicant sought administrative information regarding recruitment rules, while in the other case, a legal adviser to the ED requested information concerning allegations of sexual harassment.
Justice Prathiba M Singh overturned the CIC order in the first case, citing the ED’s exemption under Section 24 of the RTI Act from disclosing information related to recruitment rules.
However, regarding the second case (W.P.(C) 5588/2019), the court stated that the information sought by the RTI applicant, involving allegations of sexual harassment, falls within the ambit of human rights violations exempted by the proviso to Section 24 of the RTI Act.
The court directed the ED to disclose this information within eight weeks.
Justice Prathiba M Singh emphasized that organizations such as the Intelligence Bureau (IB), ED, and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) are generally considered exempted under Section 24 of the RTI Act.
However, the court noted that information related to exempted organizations can be disclosed in cases of corruption and human rights violations, as stipulated in the proviso to Section 24.
Regarding the applicant seeking information only about recruitment rules, the court determined that it did not involve human rights violations and was not exempted by the proviso.
Consequently, the benefit of the proviso was deemed applicable only to the RTI applicant seeking information on allegations of sexual harassment.
The court clarified that it did not examine any specific allegations of sexual harassment in this order but directed the ED to disclose the information sought by the relevant RTI applicant within eight weeks.
