After a long drawn process, BSNL has provided IFF access to court orders directing blocking of websites in 2017 and 2018. We had filed two RTI applications with BSNL on 6 March 2019 seeking information about website blocking orders issued by the Central Government and different courts. Both RTI applications were initially rejected by citing the existence of a fiduciary relationship under Section 8(1)(e) and threat to life and safety of a person under Section 8(1)(g) of the Right to Information Act, 2005. We appealed the rejection of our RTI requests, and we were partly successful because BSNL agreed to provide us access to court orders. However, it has refused to disclose website blocking orders issued by the Central Government and we intend to challenge this before the Central Information Commission (CIC) soon.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://internetfreedom.in/a-tale-of-rogue-pirates-ashok-kumars-and-isps-caught-in-the-middle-rti-data-on-court-ordered-website-blocking-reveals-worrying-trends-whattheblock/