The ruling by Justice Vibhu Bakhru came on a CBI plea challenging a Central Information Commission (CIC) order directing the agency to provide one of its officers the status and details of disciplinary proceedings against him.
The court set aside the CIC's order of June 9, 2017, saying that the commission "fell in error" by issuing the direction.
The verdict assumes significance as agencies which are exempted from the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, are required under the transparency law to provide information they have pertaining to human rights violation and corruption.
The court disagreed with the submission, saying that the expression human rights violation cannot extend to all matters where someone claims a breach of fundamental rights.
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"Plainly, the said expression cannot be extended to include controversies relating to service matters.
"The grievances that respondent (CBI officer) has in respect of the disciplinary proceedings in question do not fall under the ambit of human rights violations," it said while allowing the CBI plea.
It had also argued that the information sought by the RTI applicant-CBI officer had no relation to human rights violation or corruption.