Is the post of Chairperson of UPA a constitutional post?
10 Feb, 2013Background
The appellant referred to an advertisement published in the newspapers showing the photograph of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Chairperson and filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) seeking to know if this post was Constitutional or legal and if it was in the knowledge of the Prime Minister or if she was appointed by the President of India. The Public Information Officer (PIO) denied the information stating that the quires raised by the appellant were not information within the meaning of section 2(f) “information” means any material in any form, including records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force; of the RTI Act.
View of CIC
The Central Information Commission (CIC) agreed with the PIO and observed that the queries of the appellant do not amount to information and that there is nothing on material record available in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on these queries. The Commission held that the RTI Act entitles a citizen to ask for existing records. It does not provide for quizzing the PIO or for testing his general knowledge. The CIC rejected the appeal noting that the queries do not lead to any material information for nothing of the kind exists. The Commission also ruled that the PMO or any other public authority in the Central Government can provide information about the status of the chairperson of the UPA only if there is any such record available on this subject.
Citation: Mr. Rakesh Nath Pandey v. Prime Minister’s Office in File No. CIC/SM/A/2012/001099
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2013/CIC/1028
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