Information pertaining to Appellant’s service record was denied u/s 24(1) r/w Second Schedule of the RTI Act - Referring to the High Court of Delhi in W.P. (C) 7453/2011 dated 09.10.2013 (UoI v Adarsh Sharma) CIC asked SSB to consider the request
17 Mar, 2017ORDER
1. Shri Manish Tyagi filed an application dated 12.12.2015 under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) before the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) seeking information/documents on five points pertaining to his service record, including (i) photo copy of service book, (ii) copy of COI dated 29.09.2010 and (iii) copies of correspondence related to absence from duty w.e.f. 27.08.2010 to.12.2010.
2. Shri Manish Tyagi filed a second appeal dated 14.05.2016 before the Commission on the grounds that information has been denied to him on the grounds that SSB is an exempted organization under Section 24 of the RTI Act, in-spite of the fact that the information sought by him related to human rights violation.
Hearing:
3. The appellant Shri Manish Tyagi was present through audio conferencing. The respondents Shri Ashok Sajwan, Asstt. Director and Shri Ranbir Singh. Asstt. Commandant were present in person.
4. The appellant submitted that in response to his RTI application dated 12.12.2015, the respondent vide letter dated 11.01.2016 has denied information on the grounds that SSB is an exempted organization under Section 24 of the RTI Act, in-spite of the fact that the information sought by him relates to human rights violations.
5. The respondent submitted that the appellant was informed vide letter dated 11.01.2016 that the SSB has been declared an exempt organization 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: 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: read with Second Schedule of the RTI Act, 2005. Further, information sought by the appellant does not pertain to allegations of corruption and human rights violations. The provisions of the RTI Act are, therefore, not applicable in this matter. In view of this, the information sought cannot be provided to the appellant.
Decision:
6. The Commission, after hearing the submissions of both the parties and perusing the records, observes that the appellant sought information pertaining to his service record. The Commission is also aware that 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: 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: r/w Second Schedule of the RTI Act, 2005, SSB has been declared an exempt organization. Hence, the provisions of the RTI Act are not applicable to the SSB, except when the information pertains to allegations of corruption or human rights violations. However, the High Court of Delhi in W.P. (C) 7453/2011 dated 09.10.2013 (Union of Indian vs Adarsh Sharma) has held that:-
“5. …….if an information of the nature sought by the respondent is easily available with the Intelligence Bureau, the agency would be well-advised in assisting a citizen, by providing such an information, despite the fact that it cannot be accessed as a matter of right under the provisions of Right to Information Act……….…It is again made clear that information of this nature cannot be sought as a matter of right and it would be well within the discretion of the Intelligence Bureau whether to supply such information or not……...”
7. In view of the above, the Commission would like the SSB to consider the request of the appellant and provide information to the extent possible to the appellant.
8. With the above observations, the appeal is disposed of.
9. Copy of the decision be provided free of cost to the parties.
(Sudhir Bhargava)
Information Commissioner
Citation: Shri Manish Tyagi v. Directorate General of Sashastra Seema Bal in Decision No. CIC/SB/A/2016/000892 Dated 27.02.2017