Can a complaint filed by a person be treated as his personal information?
7 Jul, 2013Background
The appellant filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Delhi Police seeking copy of complaints filed against him by a lady. The Public Information Officer (PIO) denied the information under section 8(1)(g) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information, the disclosure of which would endanger the life or physical safety of any person or identify the source of information or assistance given in confidence for law enforcement or security purposes; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information, the disclosure of which would endanger the life or physical safety of any person or identify the source of information or assistance given in confidence for law enforcement or security purposes; and section 8(1)(e) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information available to a person in his fiduciary relationship, unless the competent authority is satisfied that the larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; of the RTI Act on the grounds that the said lady has not given her consent but denied to share any information or documents with the appellant.
View of CIC
The Central Information Commission (CIC) observed that the appellant has a right to know the contents of the complaint filed by the complainant against him. The complaint filed by the lady cannot be said to be her personal information and the provisions of section 8(1)(g) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information, the disclosure of which would endanger the life or physical safety of any person or identify the source of information or assistance given in confidence for law enforcement or security purposes; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information, the disclosure of which would endanger the life or physical safety of any person or identify the source of information or assistance given in confidence for law enforcement or security purposes; also not apply since the identity of both the parties is known. The Commission directed the PIO to provide a copy of the complaint/ complaints filed by the said lady in Vigilance Department of South West District to the appellant.
Citation: Mr. Kamal Singh Chauhan v. Delhi Police, South West District in Case No. CIC/SS/A/2012/001818
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2013/CIC/1430
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission