The CIC has directed the President’s Secretariat to seek the opinion of Chief Election Commissioner Naveen Chawla before disclosing the letter written by his predecessor, R Gopalaswami, to the President about Chawla’s alleged “partisan” functioning. The Secretariat had earlier rejected an RTI request from S C Agrawal, who had sought a copy of the letter, saying its disclosure would be an invasion of privacy.

On November 9, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah upheld earlier decisions by both the CPIO and Appellate Authority, saying “the information sought is third party and held in confidence by the President”.

The Commission, hearing another appeal by Agrawal, related to the 2004 letter of former President A P J Abdul Kalam to former Prime Minister A B Vajpayee expressing his displeasure over some people listed for the prestigious Padma awards, ordered that a copy of the file notings be provided, barring references to individuals and discussion of their merits and demerits.