Information regarding death claim of a policy - Respondent: Claim repudiation register & register of death claim bears the entries claim cases in respect of others which cannot be shared - CIC: provide copies after severing the third party information
27 Nov, 2014Facts:-
1. The appellant, Smt. Nirmala Joshi, submitted RTI application dated 29 May 2012 before the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), Life Corporation of India, Jalandhar seeking information regarding death claimed under policy No.133146960 favouring Vandana Joshi @Vandana Shukla etc., through a total of 5 points.
2. Vide reply dated 30 June 2013, CPIO furnished information on point no. (i) & (v). In Further, in respect of point (ii) & (iii) , the CPIO denied the information u/s 8(1)(d) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; of RTI Act, 2005 and on point no. (iv) denied the information u/s 8(1) (e) of RTI Act,2005. Not satisfied with reply given by the CPIO, the appellant preferred appeal dated 1 August 2013 before the first appellate authority (FAA) against the order of CPIO alleging that information sought by him had been wrongly denied. Vide order dated 25 August 2013, the FAA upheld the decision of CPIO.
3. Not satisfied with the response of the public authority, the appellant preferred second appeal before the Commission.
CIC/DS/A/2013/001399/MP
4. The respondent during the hearing submitted that the appellant (Smt. Nirmla Joshi) sought information on the basis of special power of attorney from her son Shri Amit Joshi (Nominee) regarding Death Claim under Policy No. 133146960 in the name of Late Smt. Vandana Joshi. Complete information was provided vide letter dated 30.6.2012 under Query No. (i), (v) of the RTI application. Information on query No. (ii) & (iii) was denied u/s 8(1) (d) & (j) and on query No. (iv) information was denied u/s 8(1)(e) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information available to a person in his fiduciary relationship, unless the competent authority is satisfied that the larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; of the RTI Act. They stated that the claim repudiation register, register of death claim bears the entries claim cases in respect of others which cannot be shared and copy of affidavit cannot be supplied, as the matter is subjudice.
5. Having considered the submissions of the parties, the Commission is of the view that with respect to information pertaining to query No. (ii) and (iii) in respect of Repudiation of Claim Register and Register of Death Claims, the appellant is entitled to get this information. The CPIO is hereby directed to provide authenticated copies of both the registers qua the appellant, severing the information relating to third party information. On remaining queries the reply of CPIO/FAA is upheld. The CPIO will comply with the directions of the Commission within one week of receipt of this order. With above directions, the appeal is disposed of on the part of the Commission.
(Manjula Prasher)
Information Commissioner
Citation: Smt. Nirmala Joshi v. Life Corporation of India in Appeal: No. CIC/DS/A/2013/001399/MP