Bombay HC reserves order on plea seeking removal of personal data from MIB website

The Bombay High Court on Thursday reserved its order on a writ petition filed by activist Saket Gokhale in July, seeking directions be issued for removal of his personal information from Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) website and a compensation of Rs 50 lakh for mental trauma, agony and threat to life he had suffered due to the disclosure of the details.

A division bench of Justice Nitin M Jamdar and Justice Milind N Jadhav was hearing the activist’s plea, which stated that he had filed a RTI application before the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs last October, seeking information regarding the ‘Bharat ki Laxmi campaign’. The application was transferred to MIB, which went on to upload the same on its website along with all his personal details, including contact number and address.

Advocate Rui Rodrigues, appearing for MIB, had said the RTI cell, on August 1, had removed all personal details of applicants from website. Gokhale, however, had maintained that his personal details could be found on the website even on September 4. Rodrigues on Thursday submitted that personal details pertaining to 4,474 RTI applications have been removed from the MIB website.

The HC said why no one has looked into the issue of disclosure of details in RTI applications other than petitioners and why was there a lapse, which was not explained in the affidavit filed by the Centre. The court is likely to pronounce an order next week.