SC notice on Sanjiv Chaturvedi's plea seeking details of corruption complaints against Union ministers

The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a plea by whistleblower bureaucrat Sanjiv Chaturvedi seeking disclosure under the RTI Act about corruption complaints received by the PMO against Union ministers between 2014-17.

A bench comprising justices L Nageswara Rao and Hemant Gupta issued a notice to the central public information officer (CPIO) of the PMO and sought a response.

Chaturvedi moved the apex court challenging the Delhi High Court's September 6, 2019 order which had dismissed his plea and said that the chief information commissioner of the PMO had not committed any error in deciding his RTI application.

"The division bench committed grave error on facts and law while dismissing the appeal preferred by the petitioner and consequently, upholding the orders of the single judge dated July 31, 2019 as well as the chief information commissioner holding that the order passed by the CIC directing disclosure of information... has been duly complied with by the respondent," the plea in SC said.

The bureaucrat in his RTI application filed with the PMO had sought details of corruption complaints against Union ministers, inquiries conducted into the complaints and action taken against them.

Chaturvedi had also sought to know about the black money retrieved from abroad and deposited into the accounts of citizens, along with efforts made by the PMO in this regard.

He had sought certified copies of all the complaints submitted to the prime minister of India against corruption charges of central ministers from June 1, 2014 till August 5, 2017 along with certified copies of all documents related to the action taken, including copies of enquiry reports on such complaints by the Prime Minister's Office.

"Whether the impugned order does not take away the right to information of a citizen on such issues of public importance as corruption at high places and black money and which has been repeatedly declared as part of Fundamental Right of expression, under Article 19 of Constitution of India," Chaturvedi said in his plea while seeking the top court's intervention on the issue.