Can copy of attendance sheet in respect of an employee be disclosed to her ex-husband?
15 Jul, 2013Background
The appellant filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) seeking certified copy of the attendance register/ attendance sheet in respect of a particular lady working as Technician (TTA) at Telephone Exchange. The Public Information Officer (PIO) denied the information.
Proceedings
During the hearing the before Central Information Commission (CIC), the PIO submitted that the appellant is a family member of the lady’s ex-husband. The PIO also stated that a decree was issued by the Principal Judge Dehradun in terms of the agreement executed between the lady and her ex-husband before the Family Court. According to it the ex-husband is barred from seeking any information about the lady from the Department under the RTI Act and all such pending applications should be considered as disposed of. The PIO contended that in terms of the aforesaid decree the information sought by the appellant is exempt under section 8(1)(b) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which has been expressly forbidden to be published by any court of law or tribunal or the disclosure of which may constitute contempt of court; of the RTI Act.
View of CIC
The Commission perused the decree issued by the Principal Judge and held that ass per court order the appellant cannot seek any information regarding the said lady from the respondent under the RTI Act.
Citation: Mr. Praveen Kumar Gupta v. BSNL in File No. CIC/BS/A/2012/000958/2683
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2013/CIC/1454
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission