Appellant’s claim for allotment of rehabilitation plot in lieu of land recorded in the name of communities despite his fulfilling the criteria was rejected - CIC: A citizen has the right to know the grounds on which his claim was rejected
30 Dec, 2014Information sought:
Appellant sought information regarding rejection of his claim vide letter no.ADM/SW/2007/5223 dated 1st August, 2007, for allotment of rehabilitation plot in lieu of land recorded in the name of communities in village Nangal Dewat, in spite of his fulfilling the two fold criteria of ownership of the plot of land in the said area.
Relevant facts emerging during hearing:
Both the parties are present. Appellant sought the above information by filing an RTI application dated 24.09.2012. CPIO, Airports Authority of India, vide letter dated 04.10.2012, transferred the RTI application to Regional Executive Director (NR), Operational Offices, Rangpuri, Gurgaon, New Delhi, for providing information. As the information related to the decision of the Committee formed for allotment of alternate plots, the Dy GM(LM) forwarded the same to ADM(South West District), Old Terminal Tax building, Kapashera Border, New Delhi on 15.10.2012. Appellant submitted that the information sought has not been provided to him. Respondent from AAI submitted that the RTI query has questioned the decision of the Committee formed for allotment of alternate plots, as conveyed by the ADM Kapashera vide letter dated 01.08.2007. He further submitted that the appellant has not asked any specific information but merely sought the reasons relating to rejection of his claim. Respondent from the South West district submitted that the matter is related to village Nangal Dewat which now falls under the jurisdiction of New Delhi district and the RTI has been forwarded to the Naib Tehsildar, New Delhi district for providing the information sought. Respondent from New Delhi submitted that they have received the RTI application but they were not able to trace the records. He requested for two weeks time to provide the information.
Appellant submitted that he wanted information on the rejection of his claim though he fulfilled the two fold criteria i.e. the name of claimant should be included in the list of 122 persons who were initially allotted land in the year 1958 and allotted in the list of 122 persons should also be in possession of the land which was allotted in the year 1958. In the case of his death, his legal representatives should be in possession of the allotted land. Respondent from the AAI produced the report of the Committee formed for allotment of alternate plots. It merely showed the list of names accepted and rejected. On a query by the Commission as to on what grounds the appellant’s claim was rejected, he was not in a position to answer the same.
Decision:
After hearing both the parties and on perusal of the record, the Commission observes that the appellant has sought information on the grounds on which his claim was rejected. Every citizen has the right to know the grounds on which his claim was rejected. The Commission directs the respondent, PIO/Naib Tehsildar/Land Acquisition Officer, New Delhi district, to provide the relevant document with respect to the rejection of appellant’s claim within two weeks from date of receipt of this order, under intimation to the Commission. The appeal is disposed of accordingly.
(Yashovardhan Azad)
Information Commissioner
Citation: Shri Sushil Kumar v. Airport Authority of India, Land Acquisition Collector in F.No.CIC/SS/A/2013/001679-YA