New Delhi: Delhi High Court on Tuesday stayed the Central Information Commission (CIC) order directing production of correspondence between then President K R Narayanan and former Prime Minister A B Vajpayee pertaining to the post-Godhra communal riots in Gujarat.
Justice Anil Kumar stayed the August 8 order till January 11, 2007 on an application moved by the Union Government challenging the order passed by the CIC which directed the Ministry of Personnel and Public Grievances to produce the letters between Narayanan and Vajpayee.
Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam and Standing Counsel Rajiv Mehra argued before the court that the CIC's order was "erroneous, ultra vires and untenable in law."
Quoting Article 74 and 78 of the Constitution, the Union Government submitted that any advice tendered by the Union Council of Minsters or correspondence exchanged between the President and the Prime Minister enjoyed immunity from public scrutiny.
The Centre asserted that the correspondence between the President and the Prime Minister were "classified" and "privileged" documents under Article 74 and hence the provisions of the Right to Information Act, 2006 cannot overide the same.
The petition complained that the CIC erroneously applied the provisions of Section 6 of RTI Act in seeking production of the classified documents from the Government.
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