The Madhya Pradesh forest department has declined to disclose information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act regarding the management of cheetahs brought from Africa and their cubs born in India, news agency PTI reported.

In reply to a request filed by wildlife activist Ajay Dubey, the department invoked Section 8(1)(a) of the RTI Act. The section permits a public authority to withhold information if its disclosure could potentially harm the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific, or economic interests of the State, relations with a foreign State, or lead to the incitement of an offence.

The wildlife activist had requested the state forest department to furnish records of “management correspondence records of the Cheetah Project in Kuno and Mandsaur”.

In his reply, Saurav Kumar Kabra, the Public Information Officer in the office of the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), Madhya Pradesh, stated, “The information (under point number 2) is related to the management branch, which has decided not to provide information under Section 8(1)(a) of the Right to Information Act, 2005,” PTI quoted Kabra as saying.

Dubey informed that this is the first instance of information being denied under the RTI Act regarding the much-touted Project Cheetah, which began with the release of eight Namibian cheetahs into Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park on September 17, 2022.

Previously, Dubey had obtained information through RTI regarding the health of the first cheetah cub born in India. The information obtained on November 28 revealed that the cub's right leg was fractured.

Speaking to PTI, Dubey said, “I have been disclosing irregularities in the conservation of big cats since 2013, but this is the first time I received a reply stating that disclosure of information about cheetahs will affect national security or relations with foreign countries.”