In a decision that sets a precedent for opening up the private sector to public scrutiny, the Central Information Commission (CIC), following on a case fought by Vinod K Jose, Deputy Editor of The Caravan magazine, has directed the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) ministry to reveal information regarding the shareholders of Kalanithi Maran’s Sun Direct, a direct to home (DTH) broadcast service provider. The I&B ministry had refused on 16 March 2011 to make the information public, arguing that it was commercial in nature. Mr Jose proceeded with an appeal and the CIC, after hearing all three parties—the I&B Ministry, Sun TV and Vinod K Jose—passed the order in favour of the applicant.
During the hearing, Sun TV also argued that the information being sought was “of a sensitive, commercial nature”. Issuing the order on Tuesday 31 January, Central Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi ruled that the information could not be seen as an invasion of privacy. His order proclaimed:
Certain human rights such as liberty, freedom of expression or right to life are universal and therefore would apply uniformly to all human beings worldwide. However, the concept of 'privacy' is a cultural notion, related to social norms, and different societies would look at these differently. Therefore referring to the Data Protection Act, 1988 of U. K. or the laws of other countries to define ‘privacy’ cannot be considered a valid exercise to constrain the citizen’s fundamental right to information in India. Parliament has not codified the right to privacy so far, hence, in balancing the right to information of citizens and the individual's right to privacy, the citizen's right to information would be given greater weightage.
In the instant case, details regarding shareholders of the third party may be personal information to the extent it relates to an individual shareholder only. It is also likely that such information may have been given to the respondent - public authority during the course of a public activity. However, disclosure of shareholding details of the third party cannot be considered as an unwarranted invasion on the privacy of individual shareholders or of the third party itself.
The aforementioned information had been sought by Mr Jose while he was completing research for an 11,000-word Caravan cover story on Karunanidhi published in April 2011 (‘The Last Lear’, 1 April 2011). Karunanidhi's grand-nephew, Kalanithi Maran, owns Sun TV. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case in October 2011 against Kalanithi Maran as well as his younger brother, former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran, regarding the Aircel-Maxis deal and its link to investments made in Sun Direct.
The transparency watchdog also observed that details of the shareholding pattern are not in the nature of commercial confidence. In addition, the CIC overruled Sun TV’s objection that the information was personal in nature, declaring that information already provided to a public authority does not fall in the domain of unwarranted invasion of privacy.
The commission has asked for information to be made available prior to 25 February.
Click here to read the CIC decision from 30 January 2012:
http://www.rti.india.gov.in/cic_decisions/CIC_SG_A_2011_002664_17150_M_75555.pdf