Reasons for not being offered appointment by SSC were sought under RTI
14 Mar, 2013Background
The appellant had appeared in the combined graduate level examination conducted by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC). He noted his marks in the website of the SSC and found that candidates having less marks than him had been offered appointment while he was not given any such offer. He filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) act seeking to know the reasons for this. He received no reply from the PIO within the stipulated period. The First Appellate Authority (FAA) directed the PIO to inform the appellant appropriately. However, the appellant did not receive any communication from the SSC.
Proceedings
During the hearing before the Central Information Commission (CIC), the appellant submitted that he had been served a notice to show cause why action should not be taken against him for resorting to malpractices in the examination. However, the notice did not give any details of the alleged malpractices. He further stated that he had sent his explanation to the SSC even though he had not been told the nature of the malpractice allegedly done by him. After he filed his RTI application, the SSC sent him one more show cause notice wherein he was once again asked to show cause as to why his candidature should not be cancelled and action taken for resorting to malpractice in the examination. This time also the SSC did not specify the nature of the malpractice without which nobody can be expected to offer any meaningful explanation.
View of CIC
The Commission observed that the entire sequence shows the utter callousness and casualness on the part of the SSC in dealing with a serious matter. The Commission directed the PIO to provide the material record showing the reasons for not recommending the appellant for any appointment. Under section 20(1), the CIC issued a show cause notice to the PIO to show reasons as to why penalty should not be imposed on him for the delay and the denial of information.
Citation: Mr. Alok Kumar v. Staff Selection Commission in File No. CIC/SM/A/2012/001662
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2013/CIC/1120
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