The CIC's direction to the Prime Minister's Office came in the wake of an RTI application. This came after the PMO declined to part with a list of its classified files on the matter, saying that disclosing the same could affect the country's sovereignty and relations with foreign nations.

The Right to Information plea of Mission Netaji - a Delhi based research trust - had asked for a list of classified and unclassified records on Netaji, as available with the PMO and the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

While the PMO replied that it had 11 unclassified files relating to Netaji, an exception was claimed for listing of its classified files. It was also said that a process of declassification of its records was underway.

Taking into consideration the contentions of PMO, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah has sought perusal of a list of the classified documents held by it.

Even as the CIC observed that it was not the competent agency to adjudicate on matters concerning foreign relations, it said: "...To satisfy ourselves whether or not PMO has exercised due diligence in arriving at its conclusions, Director PMO will present to us in a sealed cover a list of such classified documents together with their description.

Earlier, Mission Netaji official Anuj Dhar presented before the CIC a statement of the related documents submitted before Justice Mukherjee Commission, that had inquired into the causes of Netaji's mysterious death.

Dhar contended that while some of related PMO documents were classified, a nomenclature and description of them were submitted before Justice Mukherjee Commission, thereby seeking the complete list of PMO's classified records on Netaji.

Notably, the Union Home Ministry recently declassified 91 official documents supporting the government's official stand that Netaji was a victim of an aircrash on August 18, 1945.