CIC upholds MHA's RTI denial over ‘enemy property’ probe citing ongoing investigation

CIC supports MHA's RTI denial on enemy property details, citing potential harm to an ongoing investigation.

The Central Information Commission (CIC) has upheld the Ministry of Home Affairs's (MHA) decision to deny information sought under the Right to Information Act (RTI) on properties under examination as “enemy property”, holding that disclosure could hamper an ongoing investigation.

Assets left behind by people who have taken citizenship of Pakistan and China, mostly between 1947 and 1962, are called enemy properties.

In an order in Hindi, Chief Information Commissioner Raj Kumar Goyal agreed with the stand of the Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property for India that the information sought was exempt under Section 8(1)(h) of the RTI Act, which bars disclosure if it would “impede the process of investigation”.

The applicant had asked for details regarding a man's enemy properties.

"...as per records available with your office, in which year did Abdul Saeed Barrister, son of Abdul Qadir, resident of Gonda, leave India for Pakistan? Please provide copies of the relevant records,” the applicant said.

The applicant had also sought information on “which properties of Abdul Saeed Barrister have been declared as enemy property” and copies of correspondence exchanged with the Gonda district administration for declaring those properties as enemy property.