Engagement of the full time surveyor - PIO: issued notice u/s 11 and waited for reply from the third party - FAA remanded the matter back to PIO - CIC: the Surveyor, not being an employee, stands in a fiduciary relationship with the Public Authority
17 Oct, 2013Facts:
1. Appellant submitted his RTI application dated 20 November 2011 before the CPIO, IRDA, Hyderabad seeking details in respect of engagement of the full time surveyor, Shri Kaushal
Kishore Tripathi.
2. Vide CPIO Order dated 9 January 2012, CPIO informed the Appellant that they have taken action under section 11 of the RTI Act and awaiting reply from the third party.
3. Not satisfied with the CPIO’s Reply, the Appellant preferred first Appeal to the First Appellate Authority dated 5 February 2012.
4. Vide FAA Order dated 15 March 2012; FAA remanded the matter back to the CPIO.
5. Being aggrieved and not being satisfied by the above response of the public authority, the appellant preferred second appeal before the Commission.
6. Matter was heard today via videoconferencing. Appellant was present at Muzzafarpur while Respondents were present at Hyderabad.
7. Respondents submitted that partial information has been provided to the Appellant.
Decision Notice
8. After hearing the submissions and going through the contents of the affidavit of Shri Kaushal Kishore Tripathi (third party), the Commission is of the view that the information sought by the Appellant is personal information of the third party surveyor i.e. Shri Kaushal Kishore Tripathi.
9. Further, the Surveyor, not being an employee of the Public Authority stands in a fiduciary relationship with the Public Authority.
10. With the above facts in hand and absence of any larger public interest established by the Appellant in disclosing the information, the personal information of Shri Kaushal Kishore Tripathi cannot be disclosed under the RTI Act.
11. With the above observations, the present appeal is dismissed.
(Smt. Deepak Sandhu)
Information Commissioner (DS)
Citation: Shri Kumud Kumar v. IRDA in Appeal: No. CIC/DS/A/2012/000967