The current Chief Information Commissioner R K Mathur, however, did not alter an order passed by his predecessor Satyanand Mishra, who had ruled that the expenditure incurred on VVIP visits, including those of the Prime Minister and Ministers, should be disclosed proactively "in larger public interest".
In his order on the query of Commodore (retd) Lokesh Batra, Chief Information Commissioner R K Mathur said the information sought by him attracted section 8(1)(a) of the RTI Act which exempted it from disclosure.
He had also sought certified copies of 'flight return', air travel bill(s) and receipt(s) of an amount of Rs 2.45 crore paid/cleared in respect of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Bhutan on 15-16 June, 2014, among others.
Before rejecting the plea seeking information under the RTI Act, the Prime Minister's Office said during the hearing that "each and every piece of information relating to arrangements for PM's visit is confidential and sensitive."
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"On November 09, 2016, the Commission perused 3-4 different files regarding travel bills of the PM, as produced by the respondent no. 1 (PMO). On perusal of the files, the Commission is convinced that the sought for information are of a nature which is exempted under Section 8(1)(a) of the RTI Act, 2005," Mathur said in the order.
The aircraft were chartered by Ministry of External Affairs, which said it had no role in delay in payment to the national carrier. The MEA said as per the practice, upon receiving the bills, it forwarded those to the Civil Aviation Ministry and then to the PMO, apparently hinting that responsibility for delayed payment lay at their doors.
The retired Naval officer wanted to see records to know why these bills were kept pending as Air India was already facing cash crunch.
During the hearing he had told the Commission that the PMO website during the period concerned showed only five bills had been paid and 14-15 were pending.
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