Seeking copies of APR of payments made to laborers under MANREGA - accounts of customers maintained at post offices/banks are held under fiduciary relationship - exempt from disclosure to third party under Section 8(1)(e)
28 Sep, 2013ORDER
Information sought:
Provide copies of APR of Payments made to laborers under MANREGA during the period 01/07/2010 to 31/03/2012.
Grounds for the Second Appeal: The PIO has refused the information under Section 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; 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; 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.
Relevant Facts emerging during Hearing:
The CPIO’s representative stated that the appellant in his RTI application dated 04/04/2012 is seeking copies of withdrawal slips of MANREGA beneficiaries, however, the information is held in fiduciary capacity by the post office as these are savings account customers. He argued that the appellant has not demonstrated any bona fide public purpose to justify the disclosure and the information is exempt under section 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; 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; 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. The appellant is not present for making his submissions/contesting the facts.
Decision notice:
The Commission in the past has held that accounts of customers maintained at post offices/banks are held under fiduciary relationship and hence information relating to such accounts is exempt from disclosure to third party under Section 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; 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; 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 unless the seeker of information is able to show larger public interest to justify the disclosure. The matter is closed.
BASANT SETH
Information Commissioner
Citation: Mr. Sandeep Sheoran v. Department of Posts in File No. IC/BS/A/2012/001148/3431