Hyderabad: The Ministry of External Affairs has refused to disclose information related to political clearance for Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s US visit last month, citing sensitive information that could affect India’s relations with other countries.
Revanth Reddy was denied permission by the Centre to visit the US on August 21. A state delegation, headed by the CM, was to visit the US and the United Kingdom to meet with top global institutions and Ivy League universities, urging collaboration with Telangana.
After the UK tour, officials headed to the US without the CM.
The MEA later clarified that the clearance was denied as the proposed program was inappropriate to the office held and the purpose of the visit.
RTI application filed
A Right to Information (RTI) application was filed by activist Robin Zaccheus on August 23, seeking certified copies of records, file notings, correspondence, criteria documents, statistical data and other material relating to the political clearance process for foreign visits by chief ministers, the Times of India reported.
The application specifically asked for the Telangana government’s applications for Revanth Reddy’s visit.
However, in its response on September 3, the MEA invoked Section 8 (1) (a) of the RTI Act, denying disclosure of information based on diplomatic relations.
It also said that the format in which the information was sought was not maintained by the ministry and would require extensive collation of data on individual visits from state governments, ministries and departments.
This would amount to the creation of new information, which was beyond its obligations under the RTI Act.
It also cited Section 7 (9), stating that undertaking such an exercise would result in inappropriate diversion of its resources.
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