PM Chartered Flight Trips: No Information Disclosure Due Security

New Delhi: Records pertaining to the Prime Minister's chartered flights for visits abroad cannot be disclosed under the RTI Act due to security concerns as per instructions from the PMO, the national carrier has said in response to an application filed by an activist under the transparency law.

In his RTI application dated February 2, 2018, Commodore (Retd) Lokesh Batra had sought to know from Air India the dates of invoices raised for chartered flights provided by it for foreign visits of the Prime Minister since November 2016, and the dates of forwarding each of these bills to the Civil Aviation Ministry and the External Affairs Ministry.

According to Batra, he got a response from the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) who said he cannot furnish information sought by him, and also sent him an e-mail communication from the PMO to Air India on the issue.

In that email, sent to an Air India official on December 26, 2016, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) had said, "Records pertaining to PM's flight have certain information which may have security implications and are, hence, exempted from disclosure under clause (g) of Section 8(1) of the RTI Act, 2005." "As such, the Air India is advised not to disclose information relating to PM's flight to such RTI queries," it said.

It was not clear what had prompted the PMO's email in 2016. Section 8(1)(g) of the RTI Act exempts from disclosure information that 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.