Can third party information regarding loss of cheque be disclosed under RTI?
30 Jun, 2013Background
The appellant filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Bank of Baroda seeking information about a complaint/ information of loss of a certain cheque by an account holder. The Public Information Officer (PIO) denied the information under section 8(1)(j) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. of the RTI Act.
Proceedings
During the hearing the before Central Information Commission (CIC), the respondent stated that the appellant was not connected with the cheque and hence the said information was third party information. The appellant submitted that he was connected with the information sought because the drawer of the cheque had submitted a false affidavit in the court by mis-stating facts and it was in the interest of justice and for correct facts to emerge in the court, that he wanted the factual information from the bank. The appellant further explained that the drawer of the cheque had given an affidavit stating that the cheque had got misplaced, hence the appellant wanted to know from the respondent whether the drawer of this particular cheque had written to the bank about the cheque getting misplaced.
View of CIC
The Commission observed that the appellant had sought information in pursuance of a legal proceeding in the interest of ensuring the correct facts. Hence, the information should be provided taking into account the element of public interest in facilitating court processes relying on correct facts. The CIC directed the respondent to provide the sought information to the appellant.
Citation: Mr. Anil Kumar Srivastava v. Bank of Baroda in Decision No. CIC/VS/A/2012/000687/03526
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2013/CIC/1407
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission