How did metro designs leak and get posted on website?: SC

The Supreme Court today wanted to know from the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) as to how information on the structural drawings and design of metro corridor pillars were leaked and posted on the website when it was claiming that such information cannot be disclosed under the RTI law.

"Has any effort been made to find out how it was leaked and put on the website. You can find out," a bench comprising justices P Sathasivam and J Chelameswar said while staying the order of the Delhi High Court which had asked the DMRC to make public information about the July 2009 collapse of a metro corridor pillar at Zamrudpur in south Delhi killing six persons.

The DMRC has challenged the August 1, 2011 judgement of the division bench of the High Court which had held that there was no security threat in providing such information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

Attorney General GE Vahanvati said not only for the security reasons but also for the commercial considerations the information on structural drawings and planning of Delhi metro cannot be made public as there was always a fear that it may go into wrong hands.

He said DMRC is a flagship company which is competing for the metro projects in other cities and in view of that "how can there be no confidentiality".

However, Sudhir Vohra, a Delhi-based architect, who is seeking information on the issue, said the plea of security concern cannot hold water as he was not asking for information on airports, oil pipelines or power plants.

He said he had written a letter to DMRC for the drawing of one pillar which broke down in the year 2009 and he received a reply from the top official that there was a defect in the design resulting in the collapse.

"I no longer want the drawing as I got the admission of their guilt. Now I want to know (from the apex court) whether I am entitled to get information," Vohra, who was himself arguing his case, said.

The bench said Vohra's claim seems to be "reasonable" and posted the matter for hearing on February 21.

However, when the architect said "admitting the design fault was more criminal than the construction fault," the bench shot back at him saying "by citing this, tomorrow somebody will ask about Kudalkulam nuclear plant in Tamil Nadu as to how it is working".

The architect said an FIR has been registered about the leakage of information about the drawings and designs of the pillars and perhaps the drawings were stolen.

The division bench of the High Court had dismissed the DMRC's appeal against the High Court's single judge bench order which had upheld the CIC's March 2010 order for disclosure of information on the issue.

The  architect had filed an application under the RTI Act asking the DMRC to give him all structural drawings of both the pile foundation and the superstructure, including all steel reinforcement details, foundation details, engineering calculations and soil tests pertaining to the cantilevered bracket of Metro Pillar No 67 which had collapsed July 12, 2009 resulting in the death of six persons and injury to many others.

The DMRC had contended that if the details of the designs and drawings are disclosed to the applicant for the public at large, there was a possibility of anti-national elements causing sabotage to the structures at the vulnerable points and that is why photography of certain sensitive structures such as bridges, etc. was prohibited.

However, the High Court had said there may be a situation where disclosure may affect the security, strategic, scientific and economic interests of the State but the present case is not such a one.

The Central Public Information Officer of the DMRC in July, 2009, declined the information sought on the ground that it was intellectual property of the DMRC and considerable cost and time had been spent in preparing the design.

Later, the CIC had directed the DMRC to supply the information as sought by the RTI applicant.