NEW DELHI: The Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed the Prime Minister’s Office to disclose the names of delegation members who accompany PM Modi on foreign visits.
The order, however, exempts the PMO from disclosing the names of people linked to the PM’s security detail.

The direction came after chief information commissioner R K Mathur rejected the PMO’s objection to disclosing the information on the grounds of “national security”. “The commission is of the view that the name/list of non-government persons (having no connection with security) who had accompanied the prime minister on his international visits… should be provided to the appellant,” Mathur said.

The direction came on two separate cases that appeared before the CIC after Applicants Neeraj Sharma and Ayub Ali did not receive proper responses to their applications seeking details of Delegation Members Accompanying the PM on his foreign visits.
Sharma had sought the list of CEOs of private business, owners or partners, private business officials etc who accompanied Modi on his international visits. Ali wanted to know the details of monthly expenses of Modi’s residence and office; procedure for meeting him; and number of meetings held by the PM with the public at his residence and office, among other details. During the hearing, Sharma told Mathur he was informed that the list of those accompanying the PM on tours could not be disclosed on security grounds as the same was exempted under the RTI Act. “(Sharma) stated that this same information was available on the website during the tenure of former PM Manmohan Singh,” Mathur said. However, the names of delegation members could not be disclosed due to security reasons as the threats differed from person to person, the PMO said.