The Central Information Commission (CIC) has ordered the disclosure of details regarding the recent cardiac surgery on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, but only to the extent available in public domain due to extensive media coverage.

“The health and medical problems of present and former Prime Ministers which already exist in the public domain, due to extensive media coverage, like the recent cardiac surgery of the present Prime Minister, may be given,” Information Commissioner Annapurna Dixit held. Any further details shall remain under wraps for various reasons like national security, protection of individual’s right to privacy and the fiduciary nature of the information.

“The information is held by the Public Authority in fiduciary capacity on behalf of their patient (in this case, the Prime Minister). So whether the patient is a Head of a State or a common person, the information nevertheless remains fiduciary and is exempt from disclosure to the public at large,” the Commission observed.

The U-turn from the transparency panel comes within a month after Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah refused disclosure of information on the physical and mental health of present and former Prime Ministers. The decision comes on an appeal filed by Ashwini Shrivastava, who sought details of health and medical problems of present and former Prime Ministers along with money spent from Public Exchequer for their treatment.

Habibullah had earlier directed that details of tax payer’s money spent on the treatment be disclosed, though Dixit chooses to remain silent on the matter. The PMO had transferred the application to the Department of Health and Family Welfare under the Ministry of Health, which refused the information saying the medical care scheme for Prime Minister as a “classified document”.