Action taken by CBI on the complaint against various Indian Oil officers alleging irregularities in the allotment of a gas agency – CIC: information falls under the proviso to section 24(1) - inform about the status of the said complaint
19 Sep, 2013Order
1. The Appellant had sent a complaint to the CBI on 22 The provisions of this Act shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in the Official Secrets Act, 1923 (19 of 1923), and any other law for the time being in force or in any instrument having effect by virtue of any law other than this Act. October 2012 against various Indian Oil officers alleging irregularities in the allotment of a gas agency. In his RTI application, he had wanted to know about the action taken on that complaint. The CPIO had refused to disclose any information on the ground that the CBI had been included in the second schedule to the Right to Information (RTI) Act and, therefore, was not required to give any such information. The Appellant had preferred an appeal against this. The Appellate Authority disposed of the appeal by endorsing the decision of the CPIO while also directing him to transfer the RTI application to the Jaipur office of the CBI since the matter concerned them. Following this, it appears, the CPIO transferred the RTI application. It is not known if the CPIO in the Jaipur office acted on the RTI application or not.
2. The complaint of the Appellant was against some Indian Oil officers. He had alleged corruption on the part of these officers in allotment of a gas agency. Therefore, this information would fall within the scope of the proviso to section 24(1) Nothing contained in this Act shall apply to the intelligence and security organisations specified in the Second Schedule, being organisations established by the Central Government or any information furnished by such organisations to that Government: Provided that the information pertaining to the allegations of corruption and human rights violations shall not be excluded under this sub-section: of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The CPIO of the Jaipur office of the CBI should inform the Appellant about the status of his complaint. We therefore direct that the CPIO of the CBI headquarters must forward a copy of this order to the CPIO in the Jaipur office who shall write to the Appellant within 10 working days of receiving this order and inform him about the status of the said complaint.
3. The appeal is disposed off accordingly.
(Satyananda Mishra)
Chief Information Commissioner
Citation: Sh. Radha Mohan Sharma v. Central Bureau of Investigation, Anti Corruption Branch in File No.CIC/SM/A/2013/000244