CIC- Details of action taken pursuant to the order of High Court should be disclosed
27 Jan, 2013Background
The appellant filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Coal India Ltd (CIL) seeking information pertaining to compassionate appointment in lieu of her deceased father who was an employee of ECL. The Public Information Officer (PIO) informed the appellant that as the matter relates to Joint Bipartite Committee for the Coal Industry (JBCCI), it was referred for decision at appropriate level. Thereafter, separate proposal Note Sheet was placed before the Competent Authority and it was decided that considering the fact there is no provision in National Coal Wage Agreement (NCWA) for providing of any financial assistance by way of lump sum amount and giving relaxation in this regard would not be proper.
Proceeding
During the hearing before the Central Information Commission (CIC), the appellant submitted that her father was an employee of ECL, a subsidiary of CIL who died on roll and her unmarried brother was given appointment on compassionate ground. But unfortunately, he died before completing his training period. Her mother again applied for her appointment on compassionate grounds. The matter was brought before the High Court of Kolkata and the judgment was in her favour. But the CIL appealed to Division Bench where the single bench judgment was set aside due to absence of specific provision in the Coal Wage Agreement. The Division bench also held that the Coal Ministry should reconsider the issue as to whether the family could be otherwise provided with some aid and as to whether relaxing the appropriate clause of the National Coal Wage Agreement, she could be given compassionate appointment.
View of CIC
The Commission directed the PIO to apprise the appellant with complete details of action taken pursuant to the aforementioned order of the Calcutta High Court.
Citation: Ms. Jaya Hazam v. Coal India Ltd in Case No. CIC/SS/A/2012/0001744