By IANS,
New Delhi : The Delhi High Court Tuesday stayed a Central Information Commission (CIC) order to the government to disclose the donations made by the president on humanitarian grounds between 2004-11.
Justice Vipin Sanghi was hearing the plea filed by the government challenging the May 4 order of the CIC on a Right to Information (RTI) application filed by Nitesh Kumar Tripathy in June 2011.
The court passed the order after hearing the arguments of Additional Solicitor General A.S. Chandhiok, appearing for the president’s secretariat.
During the course of the hearing, the court said that “the president is not above the law” and the public has the right to know about the donation made by the president out of the taxpayers’ money.
“If it is the taxpayers’ money, every citizen is entitled to know how much is doled out to whom,” Justice Sanghi added.
The CIC in its order had observed that “the donations given by the president of India out of the public funds cannot be treated differently from the subsidy given by the government to citizens under various welfare schemes”.
Chandhiok contended before the court that the information sought under the RTI Act on the financial assistance given under the president’s discretionary grant would infringe upon the privacy of the party receiving the funds.