Information about Temporary Duty performed by the industrial employees - CIC: There was an ‘error of judgment’ on the part of the FAA in claiming exemption u/s 8(1)(a) to deny information; However, there are no provisions for imposing penalty on the FAA
9 Mar, 2017
ORDER
1. Shri Prasanta Basu Ray filed an application dated 08.06.2015 under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) before the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), Ammunition Factory Khadki (AFK), Pune, Indian Ordnance Factories seeking information/documents on four points pertaining to Temporary Duty (TD) performed by the industrial employees of AFK.
2. Shri Prasanta Basu Ray filed a complaint dated 28.07.2015 before the Commission on the grounds that the CPIO deliberately obstructed the flow of information on the pretext that the queries are not clear. The complainant stated that the either the CPIO is suppressing the information due to some reason best known to him or no system is being adhered to in the Department under the Ministry of Defence while sending employees on TD. The complainant requested the Commission to take appropriate actions as per the provisions of RTI Act against the erring officials. CIC/VS/C/2015/000300/SB Page2
Hearing:
3. The complainant Shri Prasanta Basu Ray and the respondent Shri N.P. Nayak, Jt. GM, AFK attended the hearing through video conferencing.
4. The complainant submitted that he had, inter-alia, sought information regarding three copies of factory orders regarding deputation of Industrial Employees (IEs). However, the same was denied on the grounds that the information sought contains sensitive Defence information such as address of the other installation, organization etc. and hence, is exempted from disclosure under Section 8(1)(a) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence; of the RTI Act. The complainant further submitted that similar information was provided to him by the Rifle Factory, Ishapore and Metal & Steel Factory. The complainant therefore, requested the Commission to take relevant punitive action against the CPIO for malafidely withholding the information.
5. The respondent submitted that the complainant was informed vide letter dated 01.07.2015 that the queries raised in point no. 2 were not clear and hence, the complainant was requested to seek specific information. The respondent further submitted that the FAA vide order dated 07.10.2015 had observed that the information regarding orders for temporary duty cannot be disclosed because the same might adversely affect the security of the Nation as the disclosure would reveal the details of the consignment of ammunitions as well as the details of the consignee. Hence, the disclosure of the information sought in point no. 2 of the RTI application is exempted under Section 8(1)(a) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence; of the RTI Act. The respondent further submitted that the FAA had furnished the reply as per his understanding of his query and interpretation of the RTI Act. Hence, it cannot be said that the information was malafidely withheld from the complainant.
Decision:
6. The Commission, after hearing the submissions of both the parties and perusing the records, observes that the CPIO had not denied the information sought by the complainant. Rather, he had requested the complainant to furnish specific details of the information sought. Hence, it cannot be said that the then CPIO had acted consciously and deliberately with malafide intent to provide incorrect or misleading information to the complainant. Hence, in the absence of any malafide intention, it would not be appropriate to initiate any action for imposition of penalty on the CPIO.
7. The Commission, however, observes that there was an ‘error of judgment’ on the part of the FAA in claiming exemption under Section 8(1)(a) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence; of the RTI Act to deny information to the complainant. However, there are no provisions in the RTI Act for imposing penalty on the FAA. Nonetheless, no penalty can be imposed for wrong judgment as held by the Commission in the case Shri Umapathy S. v. State Bank of India, Bangalore, CIC/AT/C/2010/001084 to 1129 dated 15.12.2010:
“9…..when CPIO or an Appellate Authority takes a reasoned position about why he chooses not to disclose an information to an applicant, it cannot be described as obstruction of information or withholding it with malafide intentions. It is possible that the contentions of the CPIO and the Appellate Authority be overruled by the CIC, but that alone cannot be the reason to penalise the CPIO or the deemed CPIOs. The CIC has been constituted to correct the error of judgement of the lower officers. There is no provision to impose penalty for wrong judgement. It needs to be noted that sometimes even the orders of superior appellate courts are overturned by higher judicial bodies. The process of reasoning is integral to any judicial process. No one can be faulted for reasoning in one way and not differently”.
8. With the above observations, the complaint is disposed of. 9. Copy of the decision be provided free of cost to the parties.
(Sudhir Bhargava)
Information Commissioner
Citation: Shri Prasanta Basu Ray v. Indian Ordnance Factories in Decision No. CIC/VS/C/2015/000300/SB Dated: 22.02.2017