HC quashes CIC order asking BCD to give minutes of meetings

The Delhi High Court has set aside a CIC order directing the Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) to provide the minutes of all meetings held by it from April 2010 till March 2015 and its sources of income.
Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva said the Central Information Commission (CIC) "fell in error" in issuing the direction to put all such information in public domain as the minutes of meetings would contain "confidential personal information and information received in fiduciary capacity".
"The minutes would also contain personal information about advocates who seek financial help on medical ground which would clearly be personal information of the third party. Such information clearly cannot be put in public domain," the court said while quashing CIC's order of August 11, 2015.

With regard to the finances of BCD, it said that accounts of a state Bar Council are audited and it is obliged to send a copy of the accounts, along with the report of the auditor, to the Bar Council of India and get it published in the official gazette.
"By publication in the official gazette, the accounts of a state Bar Council come in public domain," the court said.
It also quashed CIC's order of December 1, 2015 by which it had issued a show cause notice to the public information officer of BCD for delay in furnishing information, saying the information sought was voluminous as it was spread across five years.

The court's order came on BCD's plea challenging the two orders of CIC which had issued the directions on the plea of an RTI applicant.