Copy of leave application was sought - CIC: The days on which the officer was on leave can be provided; The leave applications of the officer cannot be furnished as it may contain personal information of him which is protected u/s 8 (1)(j)
9 Jan, 2016FACTS:
2. The Applicant through his RTI application had sought for information Santh Lal, Sr Law Officer. He wanted to know whether he was on duty from 08.10.2013 to 17.10.2013 and if he was in leave, then the date on which he was on leave along with the certified copies of the leave applications.
3. Having received no information, appellant filed first appeal. Claiming non-furnishing of information, appellant has approached the commission.
PROCEEDINGS BEFORE COMMISSION:
4. Respondent officer submitted that no application dated 10.06.2014 was received by them from the appellant. However, an application dated 11.06.2014 received from the appellant was replied by them on 02.07.2014. Since the information sought by the appellant was third party, they had requested his consent to share the information. The third party Shri S.L Gundli by his letter dated 27.06.2014 denied disclosing or sharing the information to any person under section 8 (1)(j) of RTI Act. He also stated that First Appellate Authority also upheld the reply given by them.
5. PIO however, submitted before the commission that the Shri Sant Lal Gundli was present in the office during 08.10.2013 to 17.10.2013 (12, 13 and 16.10.2013 were closed holidays). A copy of this reply had already been given to the appellant.
6. Shri. S.L Gundli, the third party in the case, while submitting his response clarified that the appellant is seeking information with the malafide intention and with the ulterior motives to jeopardy the reputation of him and that the providing of information may hamper the dignity and reputation of the 3rd party in the society.
7. Appellant submitted that he requires the information concerning the presence of appellant and the copies of the application for the purpose of the pending court proceedings between him and Shri S.L Gundli.
DECISION
8. Having heard the parties and on perusal of records, the Commission is of the view that the days on which Shri. S. L Gundli was on leave can be provided to the appellant, which in the present case has been furnished to him during the hearing by the PIO. Regarding the leave applications of Shri. S.L Gundli, the commission is of the view that it cannot be furnished as it may contain personal information of him, which is protected under section 8 (1)(j) of RTI Act and the appellant has not been able to establish the larger public interest. With these observations, the present appeal is closed.
(M.Sridhar Acharyulu)
Information Commissioner
Citation: Sh. Shyamlal v. Central Board of Pollution Control in File No.CIC/SA/A/2015/000264