Appellant: Information has been incorrectly denied on the ground that it pertains to the State Police - Respondent: Law and Order is a State subject - CIC: The information pertains to the concerned State Government & is beyond the jurisdiction of CIC
13 Mar, 2017
ORDER
1. Shri Ali Bhai filed an application dated 23.12.2015 under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) before the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) seeking certified copies of the reports regarding Plot No. 10, H. No.4-12, New Hafeezpet, Cyberabad, Ranga Reddy District received in the Ministry of Home Affairs during the period 25.01.2007 till date regarding land grabbing, theft, rioting etc.
2. Shri Ali Bhai filed a second appeal dated 01.06.2016 before the Commission on the grounds that he is not satisfied with the replies of both the CPIO and the First Appellate Authority (FAA), MHA as irrelevant and misleading information has been provided to him. The appellant requested the Commission to provide the information sought by him.
Hearing:
3. Shri Surya Prakash, representative of the appellant, Shri Ali Bhai attended the hearing through video conferencing. The respondent Shri Amarendra Singh, Under Secretary, MHA was present in person.
4. The appellant submitted that the information sought has not been provided by the respondent. The appellant further submitted that information has been incorrectly denied on the ground that it pertains to the State Police, ignoring the fact that the MHA is the nodal agency looking after the Law and Order of the Country.
5. The respondent submitted that the matter relates to the State Police. The respondent further submitted that since Law and Order is a State subject, therefore, MHA does not have any jurisdiction over the same. The respondent also stated that the same was informed to the appellant vide letter dated 08.01.2016. The appellant was also advised to obtain information from the State Police as per DoPT’s OM No. 10/2/2008/IR dated 12.06.2008. The respondent further submitted that the FAA vide his order dated 19.02.2016 had upheld the reply of the CPIO.
Decision:
6. The Commission, after hearing the submissions of both the parties and perusing the records, observes that the information sought pertains to the State Government concerned. Therefore, the present matter is beyond the jurisdiction of the Commission. Hence, no further action is required on the part of the Commission in the matter.
7. With the above observations, the appeal is disposed of. 8. Copy of the decision be provided free of cost to the parties.
(Sudhir Bhargava)
Information Commissioner
Citation: Shri Ali Bhai v. Ministry of Home Affairs in Decision No. CIC/SB/A/2016/001055 Dated 28.02.2017