judgment given by the state chief information commissioner, Vilas Patil, has upheld the decision of the public information officer and the first appellate authority.
All agreements under Public Private Partnership (PPP) will now be under the RTI purview. A judgment given by the state chief information commissioner, Vilas Patil, has upheld the decision of the public information officer and the first appellate authority. The decision was taken on December 24, 2010.
Most of the upcoming ports, MMRDA projects like the Metro lines and the upcoming sea link, and the new airport being planned at Navi Mumbai come under the PPP model.
The order came after the Bombay Environment Action Group (BEAG) sought details on the BOOST (Built Own Operate Share and Transfer) agreement from M/s Rewas Port Ltd. Rewas had signed a BOOST agreement with M/s Amma Lines Ltd, which had earlier signed an agreement with Maharashtra Maritime Board to develop the port. The BEAG had sought the information over a year ago and the matter was pending .
Rewas denied access, citing third party rights when information was first demanded in 2008. It contended that since the BEAG was dealing with environmental issues, there was no need to give them “vital information which was commercial in nature and was not relevant to the activities being pursued by BEAG. It contained information that includes commercial confidence that could have competitive position.” It added that the information could be misused.
The information commission took another view. After consulting the planning commission and the comptroller and auditor general, it stated that since “contractual obligations are of the executing parties only, it means there are no trade secrets or intellectual properties or any technical projects by revealing which professional secrets are disclosed.” It stated potential misuse of the information wasn’t sufficient grounds to deny information.
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