Govt moves SC against TDSAT order

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Thursdaymoved the Supreme Court against an order of the Telecom Disputes SettlementAppellate Tribunal (TDSAT) directing it to provide cellular operators copies ofcertain sensitive documents relating to the contentious wireless in local loop(WLL) issue and said disclosure of such papers would harm publicinterest.The Centre said that direction of TDSAT to give copies ofthe privileged documents to the contesting private litigating parties, which had‘‘commercial and other interests’’, would be againstpublic interest.The most important question raised by the governmentin the petition was: ‘‘Whether disclosure of secret notings ingovernment files, for the perusal of the adjudicating body is adequate ordisclosure is necessarily to be made to litigating businessrivals?’’ Of the three documents on which the government had soughtprivilege, two were internal notings and the third consisted of minutes of ameeting of secretaries.TDSAT had rejected the Centre’s claimof privilege without considering the fact that the documents in questionbelonged to a class of documents anddisclosure of them would injure publicinterest, the petition said.Stating that its appeal was filed on a‘‘point of principle so as not to set a precedent that may harm theadministration and policy making subsequently in all departments and ministriesof the government,’’ the Centre said that it sought to preserve itsprivilege on the contents of its documents and files from being disclosed inlegal proceedings to private litigation parties which have commercial and‘‘other interests’’.