Oil-for-food scam: CIC yet to take decision on its move

The Central Information Commission had directed the Enforcement Directorate, an exempted organisation under the RTI Act, to produce the file of the probe into the scam for its perusal to decide on its disclosure under the Act.

"In our view, the impugned order does not suffer from any patent legal infirmity requiring interference under Article 136 of the Constitution," the Supreme Court had said on the CIC directions and asked ED to produce all relevant material before the transparency panel.

Two Chief Information Commissioners have retired since the order was passed by the Supreme Court in 2010.

"Two years have passed but the CIC has not taken any action on the plea," RTI applicant Arun Agrawal told PTI.

The case relates to application filed by Agrawal who had sought the entire file containing note sheets relating to the report of Virendra Dayal, appointed by the government as special envoy to coordinate with UN officials on the Paul Volcker Committee report.

The Paul Volcker Committee was set up by the UN in April 2004 to probe corruption and fraud in its Oil-for-Food Programme in Iraq, in which name of former External Affairs minister Natwar Singh also allegedly figured as a beneficiary.

After initial reluctance and repeated transfers of the RTI application, the Finance Ministry accepted that the file was with the Enforcement Directorate.

When the matter had reached the CIC, the then Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah had directed the ED to produce the file for its perusal to decide on its disclosure under the RTI Act.