Foreign and Commonwealth Office
- Date 26 February 2019
- Sector Central government
- Decision(s) FOI 17: Upheld, FOI 40: Not upheld
The complainant submitted two requests to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) seeking confirmation as to the identity of officials involved in locating and identifying files for Sir Jeremy Heywood's review in 2014 into allegations of UK involvement in the Indian Army's Operation Bluestar. The FCO refused to confirm or deny whether it held the requested information by relying on section 40(5) of FOIA. The Commissioner is satisfied that the FCO is entitled to rely on this exemption to refuse the requests. However, she has also concluded that the FCO breached section 17(1) of FOIA by failing to issue a refusal notice within 20 working days. Information Tribunal appeal EA/2019/0089 under appeal.