Explain the denial of information in "Black Money" case: CIC

The CIC has asked the office of the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha to explain the reasons for denying information about correspondence among L K Advani, the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister on the issue of "black money" stashed in Swiss banks.

The CIC has asked the office of the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha to explain the reasons for denying information about correspondence among L K Advani, the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister on the issue of "black money" stashed in Swiss banks.

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"The Commission directs you to offer comments on this complaint...Clearly giving justification for denial of information," Deputy secretary at CIC Pankaj Shreyaskar wrote to the Public Information Officer, Office of the Leader of Opposition on the complaint of an activist Subhash Agrawal.

Agrawal had filed an RTI application in the Office of Leader of Opposition L K Advani seeking detailed information on the letter written by the former Home Minister to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister's reply to it.

He demanded copy of the letter, its reply, file notings and other relevant documents on the issue of "black money" in the Swiss banks under the RTI Act.

The matter surfaced during the pre-election debates when BJP leader Advani promised to make efforts to bring back the "black money" stashed in Swiss accounts.

Since there was no reply from the office of opposition leader, which holds status of Union Cabinet Minister, Agrawal filed complaint at the Central Information Commission.