Are the dates and purpose of official visits disclosable under RTI?
27 Nov, 2012Background
The appellant filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Punjab National Bank seeking information about the dates and purpose of visits to Bangalore by the five CMDs of the Bank along with the photocopies of the hotel bills. The Public Information Officer (PIO) provided part information and denied the rest on some or the other ground.
Proceeding
During the hearing before the Central Information Commission (CIC), the appellant stated that information is needed to expose the alleged corruption in the bank and the culture of brokers that has been introduced in the bank. The appellant further stated that it is important to know the details of the hotel in which the higher levels of bank officers have stayed. It is to pin down the facts about the claims and the payments that have been made and expose the practices of the bank. The respondent stated that they have given information on 18 out of 23 counts. They further explained that the rest of the information was denied because the points were in the shape of queries and not information seeking. On certain points, the papers were not available, e.g., hotel bills. The respondent also stated that some more information in recent weeks has become available, which can be provided to the appellant.
View of CIC
The Central Information Commission (CIC) directed to provide whatever further information has become available with the bank to the appellant.
Citation: Mr. T.C. Aggarwal v. Punjab National Bank in Decision No. CIC/SM/A/2011/002012/VS/01279
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2012/CIC/824
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission