New Delhi: The details of foreign visits
undertaken by National Advisory Council Chairperson Sonia
Gandhi and expenses incurred on them should be made public,
the Central Information Commission has held.
Hissar-based RTI applicant Ramesh Verma had sought to
know from the PMO, information on the foreign visits of Sonia
Gandhi, the costs incurred on them, benefits and purpose of
these visits.
It seems Parliamentary Affairs ministry had informed
that the central government had incurred no expenditure on the
foreign visits of Sonia Gandhi during the last 10 years.
"However the Cabinet Secretariat has no knowledge if any
information has been given to the applicant in respect of her
foreign visits as Chairperson of the National Advisory
Council," Mishra pointed out directing to provide details.
The application received by the PMO on February 26, 2010
was transferred to External Affairs Ministry on March 16, 2010
and further forwarded to Parliamentary Affairs Ministry on
March 26, 2010.
Pulling up the PMO for "casual handling" of the RTI
application in this regard, Chief Information Commissioner
Satyananda Mishra directed it to ensure, in future, that
information seeking pleas should be sent to concerned
ministries only.
"One thing is for sure that, in this case, the RTI
request has been handled very casually. It was originally
addressed to the CPIO of the PMO. CPIO should have taken care
to find out which exact Ministry in the Central Government was
concerned and should have transferred the application to that
Ministry or Ministries.
"Instead, the application was forwarded from one place
to another, resulting in so much delay," he said.
PTI
