Exceptional case of exemption of the note-sheet under the RTI Act
14 Feb, 2012Background
The appellant sought copy of complaint filed by Mrs. Taruna Dhanda against Eenam Gambhir to the Foreign Secretary and Foreign Minister. Information relating to transfer of Eenam Gambhir, the certified copies of the file notings along with the note sheet of her transfer from Argentina to head office at India was also sought. The PIO denied the information under section 8 (1) (j) of the RTI Act. The FAA agreed with PIO’s reply that the information sought by the appellant relates to personal information of third party the disclosure of which would serve no larger public interest.
View of CIC
The Central Information Commission perused the file notings and felt that this is one of the rare cases where disclosure of the file noting and records would be an unwarranted invasion on the privacy of the officer. Hence, the Commission accepted the plea for exemption by the PIO under section 8(1) (j) of the RTI Act.
Comments
While the contents of the note-sheet would be known only to a handful, readers may only like to take a note than note-sheet written during the performance of official duty may contain information which is percieved as personal as per the RTI Act.
Citation: Mr. Ashok Dhanda v. Ministry of External Affairs in file no. CIC/SG/A/2011/003581
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2012/CIC/90
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