The law Ministry has asked the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) to approach Parliament for being exempted from the ambit of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
Responding to a proposal forwarded by DAE through the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the administrative Ministry for RTI, the Ministry of law and Justice advised it would not be appropriate to carve out an exemption through a Government notification. Instead, it asked the DAE to seek Parliamentary approval through amendments in related laws.
The Ministry in its response asked DoPT to await passage of the Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority Bill pending in lok Sabha where an exemption under RTI has been sought for the proposed body. DAE apprehended that “disclosure under RTI would harm competitive position of third parties” linked to DAE and compromise their technical expertise.
In addition, an exemption under the transparency law was necessary to protect Intellectual Property Rights of companies working in collaboration with the Department. Schedule Two of RTI Act presently exempts 22 organisations from its ambit which include IB, RAW and SPG.