Forum of Information Commission should not be used for settling personal scores
31 May, 2013
Background
The appellant had made a representation to the Defence Minister of India making allegations against the Chief Administrative Officer, Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), regarding his involvement in corrupt practices etc. and seeking reasons for his continued posting in INMAS for almost 10 years. Later, he filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) seeking to know the action taken on his representation. The Public Information Officer (PIO) denied the information under section 24(1)
Nothing contained in this Act shall apply to the intelligence and security organisations specified in the Second Schedule, being organisations established by the Central Government or any information furnished by such organisations to that Government:
Provided that the information pertaining to the allegations of corruption and human rights violations shall not be excluded under this sub-section:
of the RTI Act. The First Appellate Authority (FAA) referred to an earlier decision of the Central Information Commission (CIC) regarding a similar RTI application, (Appeal No. CIC/LS/A/2012/001804), wherein it was held that the appellant was not seeking information but was articulating his grievance.
View of CIC
The Central Information Commission (CIC) observed that the appellant has leveled allegations of corruption against the said officer and he is not seeking any information, besides the allegations were not accompanied by any evidence. This Commission rejected the appeal stating that the CIC cannot be allowed to be used as a forum for settling personal scores.
Citation: Mr. Krishan Gopal Khurana v. DRDO in File No. CIC/LS/A/2013/000668
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2013/CIC/1320
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission