By PTI
BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh government has declined to share the file notings related to the “Shikhar Samman” awards citing multiple clauses of the RTI Act that bar the disclosure of information held in a fiduciary relationship.
RTI activist Ajay Dubey has sought all the file notings related to deciding the awardees for Shikhar Samman — Kabir Samman, Kalidas Samman, Lata Mangeshkar Samman, Maithili Sharan Gupt Samman, Iqbal Samman etc.– given to different people in 2019 and 2020 in recognition of their contribution in the fields of art, literature and culture.
In its reply, the state government’s culture directorate has said the desired information is related to a third party and it cannot be made public under section 8(1)(d) of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
The section bars “information, including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information”.
The information also cannot be disclosed under section 8(1)(e) of the Act as it is available to a person in his fiduciary relationship, according to the culture directorate’s reply.
It said the disclosure of information may endanger the lives of the people concerned and denied it under section 8(1)(g) of the Act.
The section bars “information, the disclosure of which would endanger the life or physical safety of any person or identify the source of information or assistance given in confidence for law enforcement or security purposes”.
Dubey said it is strange as to why the government is avoiding a disclosure of the desired information.
“I will appeal against the denial of information. The state government needs to ensure transparency in decision making related to these important awards,” he said.
The awards were announced in November last year and a list of awardees for 2019 and 2020 is available on the culture directorate’s website, Dubey said.
The award carries a citation and a cash prize.
