Information relating to IRDA employment notification in which the appellant applied for the post of Joint Director; promotion practice & policies of IRDA through a total of 83 points was denied u/s Section 7 (9) - appellant agreed to narrow the request
22 Mar, 2014Facts:
1. The appellant, Shri S P Chakraborty, has submitted four RTI applications dated 19 October 2012, 26 October 2012, 29 October 2012 & 01 November 2012, before the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), Hyderabad; seeking information relating to IRDA employment notification dated 19.08.2009 of the Authority in which the appellant was an applicant for the post of Joint Director; regarding promotion practice and policies of the IRDA; equivalence of specific cadres of IRDA with that of private companies, PSUs, Govt. departments etc; and advertisement of IRDA published on 12.07.2002 for recruitment of Assistant Actuary along with other cadres respectively through a total of 83 points.
2. Vide order dated 07 December 2012, CPIO by a common order for all the above mentioned RTI applications, denied information under Section 7 (9) of the RTI Act 2005 as the information sought in those RTI applications was not readily available and the collation of the same would disproportionately divert the resources of IRDA. Not satisfied by the CPIO’s reply, the appellant preferred appeal dated 10 December 2012, to the First Appellate Authority (FAA). Vide order dated 26 December 2012, the FAA upheld the CPIO’s decision and further clarified the decision of the CPIO.
3. Being aggrieved and not satisfied by the above response of the public authority, the appellant preferred second appeal before the Commission.
4. The matter was heard today via videoconferencing. The appellant, Shri S.P. Chakraborty attended the hearing from Hyderabad. The respondents were represented by Shri K. Srinivas, CPIO and Shri Ananthakrishnan also from Hyderabad. At the outset, the respondents stated that the appellant had filed 4 RTI applications for seeking information of over 70 points relating to 2002 recruitment for Assistant Director (Actuarial), 2009 recruitment, 2011 recruitment and promotions exercises conducted between 2008 to 2012, and delegation of the administrative powers of the Chairman etc. The respondents also submitted that the information can only be provided if it is available in the form in which it is sought otherwise it would disproportionately divert the resources of the public authority.
5. Looking to the voluminous information and the number of years the information was asked for it was suggested to him if he could focus on their major issues involved and the information which was crucial to him. The appellant agreed to take up those specific issues wherein information was absolutely required by him. Each of the RTI requests was discussed in detail during the hearing. Decisions in each of these are as follows :
Decision Notice CIC/DS/A/2013/000496 (RTI dated 19-10-2012)
6. The respondents will give a copy of the last note approving the employment notification of 2009 for the post of Joint Director.
7. A copy of the attendance sheet showing the attendance of the appellant in the written examination for the post of Joint Director, relating to the appellant only, will be provided with reference to para 7 of the RTI request if it is available with them.
8. With reference to Para 8, information as available with the respondents will be provided.
9. The respondents will provide copy of communications sent to PSUs/Government Departments, etc. calling for officers on deputation for the yeart 2011-12.
CIC/DS/A/2013/000497 (RTI dated 29-10-2012)
10. The respondents will provide the eligibility criteria for the post of Joint Director. The respondents will also allow the appellant an opportunity for inspecting the documents related to para 3 of the RTI request.
CIC/DS/A/2013/00049 8 (RTI dated 01-11-2012)
11. The appellant has asked for old record relating to 2002 which the respondent had been unable to locate but they assured to make another attempt to search for the relevant record and provide him information with reference to (e), (f), (q) and (v) of the RTI request.
CIC/DS/A/2013/000499 (RTI dated 26-10-2012)
12. The respondents had stated that Shri Chakraborty was a Member of the Interview Board and had access to the eligibility etc. for Assistant Director (Actuarial) post for which interview was held. They further stated that the notification for recruitment of Assistant Director (Acturial), 2010 having the eligibility criteria is on the web site of IRDA and thus in public domain. They further agreed to provide a consolidated list of successful candidates if available.
13. The information, as above, in all the 4 cases will be provided to the appellant by IRDA within 21 days of the receipt of the order of the Commission.
(Manjula Prasher)
Information Commissioner
Citation: Shri S P Chakraborty v. Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority in Appeal: No. CIC/DS/A/2013/000496/MP, CIC/DS/A/2013/000497/MP CIC/DS/A/2013/000498/MP CIC/DS/A/2013/000499/MP