Bhopal: Some of Madhya Pradesh’s dormant high-profile corruption cases may be back in focus after the Supreme Court ruling tore through an RTI wall built around Lokayukta Police and the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) more than a decade ago.
Legal observers say the verdict may reopen attempts to access records in politically sensitive corruption and economic offence cases that remained difficult to examine through the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, for years.
In a judgment delivered on June 15, the apex court held that the Special Police Establishment (SPE) of Lokayukta is not an “intelligence and security organisation” under Section 24(4) of the RTI Act. The finding weakens the legal footing of a 2011 state notification under which both Lokayukta Police and EOW were kept outside RTI scrutiny in matters under investigation.
Asked for comment, Director General, SPE, Yogesh Deshmukh, told TOI that the agency was “studying the order”.
The case before the SC arose from an RTI plea filed by a Katni based police officer accused in a Lokayukta trap case. He had sought records related to sanction for his prosecution. Madhya Pradesh High Court had directed disclosure after noting that the investigation had concluded.
The state challenged the order before the SC, relying on the August 25, 2011 notification to justify denial of information.
The apex court clarified that while information affecting investigation, prosecution, witnesses or informers may still be denied under exemptions already available in the RTI Act, blanket immunity applies only to organisations carrying out ‘intelligence and security functions’. Lokayukta SPE, the court held, does not fall in that category.
In practical terms, the ruling does not automatically throw open anti-corruption files. What changes is the basis for refusal.
For years, agencies routinely rejected RTI applications by citing institutional exemption. Legal observers say authorities may now increasingly have to explain, case by case, why disclosure cannot be made.
Does the ruling extend to EOW as well? Though EOW was covered under the same 2011 notification, officials familiar with the agency said some officers believe the order concerns Lokayukta SPE alone, since that was the organisation directly examined by the SC.
Others argue that once the legal footing of the notification itself has weakened, EOW’s exempt status may also face challenge.
The August 25, 2011 notification was issued at a politically sensitive time, keeping the Lokayukta Police (SPE) and EOW outside the RTI Act in matters under investigation. Officially, the state argued that disclosure in corruption and economic offence cases could expose complainants and informers, compromise physical safety and hamper investigation or prosecution.
Officials familiar with developments during that period said the move was also discussed within bureaucratic and legal circles, as a series of RTI applications seeking records in the matter raised concerns over internal notings and investigative material entering the public domain.
