People's Union for Civil Liberties & Anr. vs U.O.I. and Ors.

The appellants People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) had sought for disclosure of a report on safety of nuclear installations, submitted by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) to the Delhi government in November 1995, envisaging issues relating to purported safety violations and defects on various nuclear installations & Power Plants across the country. It was contended by UOI that the report was classified as "Secret" as it pertains to several sensitive facilities carried out dummy nuclear installation and raised a plea of privilege in relation to the said report. The petitioners had moved the Supreme Court after the Bombay High Court had rejected their petition in January 1997. The petitioners had also raised doubt about the safety aspect with regard to disposal of nuclear waste. The Supreme Court held that for determining a question when a claim of privilege is made the following questions need to be answered:(i) whether the document in respect of which privilege is claimed, relation to affairs of any state;(ii) whether the disclosure of the contents would be against public interest. Based on the aforementioned test, the Supreme Court held that the restrictions as regard disclosure of information as contained in Section 18 of the Atomic Energy Act are not vague or wide in nature. It specifies the areas where such disclosures are prohibited. The powers of the Central Government to make an order in terms thereof are, thus, limited. Therefore Section 18 is cannot be considered unconstitutional and is a valid piece of legislation. It has not been contended nor could it be contended that the operation and functioning of a nuclear plant is not sensitive in nature. Any information relating to the training features processes or technology cannot be disclosed as it may be vulnerable to sabotage. Keeping in view the purport and object for which the disclosure of the Report of the Board has been withheld, the Court is of the opinion that it is not a fit case where this Court should exercise its discretionary jurisdiction under Article 136 of the Constitution of India, nor a perusal of the report by the Court is necessary. The order issued by the Central Government under Section 18 of the Act and its claim of privilege do not suffer from any legal infirmity. Rejecting the petition by the People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL) and the Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal for making public the government report, the Court ruled that the petitioners were "not entitled" to get the document declared as "secret" by the Union Government under Section 18 of the Atomic Energy Act 1962.