Source: Indian Express

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Under-CIC-threat--Govt-clarifies--file-notings-available-under-RTI/480631

Under pressure from the Central Information Commission (CIC), the Government on Tuesday decided to make available file notings of government decisions—except those taken by the 18 exempted organizations—under the Right to Information Act (RTI). A government official said the “clarification” had been approved by the Prime Minister following the CIC’s outburst on June 2.

The CIC had issued notice to two officers of the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT), saying they would be prosecuted for not following its orders. Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah told the officials to appear
on June 17 to explain why DoPT continued to claim on its website that file notings were not part of the information that could be disclosed even after the CIC ruling that file notings were not exempt from disclosure.

Habibullah had warned that they could be punished under Section 166 of the Indian Penal Code (“public servant disobeying law, with intent to cause injury to any person”) with imprisonment up to one year. They were also liable to the maximum penalty of Rs 25,000 prescribed under Section 19(7) of the RTI Act. However, he deferred the hearing to July 2.While giving the definition of information under the RTI, the DoPT website said that the expression “does not include file notings” even though the Law Ministry and the Supreme Court have long accepted the CIC’s ruling that file notings were not exempt from disclosure.