Date of joining and retirement of an employee of MTNL was denied u/s 8(1)(j) - CIC: all public authorities are required to publish a directory of its officers & employees u/s 4(1)(b)(ix); the information sought cannot be treated as personal information
1 May, 2014Information sought:
The applicant has sought the information related to Employee of MTNL Service, Mrs. Noorjahan
Ramzanali Manji:-
i. Date and year of joining MTNL Service of Mrs. Noorjahan Ramzanali Manji,
ii. Date and year of Retirement of Mrs. Noorjahan Ramzanali Manji.
Grounds for the Second Appeal: The CPIO has denied the desired 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 2005.
Relevant Facts emerging during Hearing: The following were present
Appellant: Absent
Respondent: Mr. G D Madhukar APIO through VC.
The appellant was given an opportunity to participate in the hearing, however, he is absent. The APIO stated that the information sought by the appellant in his RTI application dated 07/01/2013 (viz. the date of joining and the date of retirement of Mrs. Noorjahan Ramzanali Manji) relates to a third party who has objected to its disclosure and hence, cannot be provided.
Decision notice:
It is seen that a Coordinate Bench of this Commission vide its decision dated 10/10/2013 (File No. CIC/RM/A/2013/000494 Shri Keshav Kaushik vs. University of Delhi) has held as under:
“6. The Commission issues the following directions:
Query No. 1 – Copy of appointment letter cannot be considered as personal information, as held by the CPIO. We direct that a copy of the appointment letter be provided to the appellant.”
As per the provisions of Section 4(1)(b)(ix) of the RTI Act all public authorities are required to publish a directory of its officers and employees and the information sought by the appellant (viz. the date of joining and the date of retirement of a public servant) cannot be treated as personal information the disclosure of which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual. The CPIO is accordingly directed to provide the information requested by the appellant in his RTI application dated 07/01/2013 within 15 days from the date of receipt of this order.
The appeal is disposed of accordingly.
BASANT SETH
Information Commissioner
Citation: Mr. Altaf Anwar Saudagar v. MTNL in File No. CIC/BS/A/2013/000603/4897