The public information officer of the Supreme Court has refused to disclose details of a report filed by retired Supreme Court judge, Justice AK Patnaik, on the investigation into a “larger conspiracy” behind the allegations of sexual harassment against former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, Live Law reported on Thursday.
Journalist Saurav Das had filed a Right to Information application, seeking details of the report. Das had submitted that no public authority can chose to deny information after the enactment of the RTI Act.
“The nature of information sought is exempt under Section 8(1)(b), 8(1)(j) and Section 11(1) of the Right to Information Act, 2005,” the public information officer said in his response.
Section 8(1)(b) exempts disclosure of information “which has been expressly forbidden to be published by any court of law or tribunal or the disclosure of which may constitute contempt of court”. Section 8(1)(j) prohibits disclosure of details which…