Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The complainant submitted a request to the FCO for a copy of a file dating from 1963 concerning Nepal, namely 371/170877 which is entitled ‘Conversation with Inspector General of Police about Intelligence Requirements and Counter Subversion’. The FCO provided the complainant with a copy of the file but made redactions to six documents on the basis of section 27(2). The complainant sought to dispute these redactions (with the exception of a name that was redacted from document 3). The Commissioner has concluded that the disputed information, with a number of small exceptions, is not exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 27(2) of FOIA. The Commissioner requires the public authority to provide the complainant with unredacted copies of the documents numbered 1 to 6 in paragraph 9 of this notice. The only redactions which can be made are to certain parts of paragraphs 2 and 6 in document 3. The exact nature of these redactions is identified in the confidential annex, a copy of which will be given to the FCO only.
The public authority must take these steps within 35 calendar days of the date of this decision notice. Failure to comply may result in the Commissioner making written certification of this fact to the High Court pursuant to section 54 of the Act and may be dealt with as a contempt of court.