Disclose Haj agreement between India and UAE: CIC to MEA

The Central Information Commission has directed the external affairs ministry to disclose the details of bilateral agreement on Haj between India and UAE after severing the quota of pilgrims mentioned in it.

The application of one RTI applicant AM Attar seeking details of the agreement was rejected by the ministry on the grounds that its disclosure would affect the relations between the two nations and other Muslim countries.

"The earlier exemption sought under Section 8 (1)(a) of the RTI Act 2005 had already been dealt with on the previous occasion, hence the same need not be reiterated. However, the seeking of fresh grounds to justify non disclosure of information by the Respondent Public Authority does not provide additional merit to the case.

"However, interestingly no additional documents have been submitted by the respondent at this stage to substantiate
their contention or justifying the non furnishing of information despite clear directions of this Commission. The remaining information in the Bilateral Agreement does not pertain to any sensitive data, as agreed by the respondent (MEA) also and the same should accordingly be provided to the Appellant," information commissioner, Annapurna Dixit held.

She directed to remove clause two and four of the agreement. While clause two specifies the quota of the Indian Hajis, clause four mentions the figures (data) depicting the number of Hajis.