Seeking information regarding complaint against Reliance entities using RTI
6 Jun, 2013Background
The appellant filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Directorate of Prosecution seeking to know whether any legal opinion was sought by the Economic Offenses Wing, Delhi Police from the Directorate of Prosecution in respect of the complaint filed by him against Reliance Money Limited, Reliance Securities Limited, Reliance Capital Limited and Reliance Commodities Limited. He also sought the file notings on every aspect of the RTI petition and on the movement of the RTI petition. The Public Information Officer (PIO) informed the appellant that the case file of the matter was received in the Prosecution Branch for legal opinion and after examining the matter, the file was returned to the investigating agency and the office does not have the copy of the said matter.On the directions of the First Appellate Authority (FAA), the PIO provided some additional information.
Proceedings
During the hearing before the Central Information Commission (CIC), theappellant stated that the PIO had not provided complete reply in compliance with the FAA’s order. The appellant also alleged that there had been a delay in transferring the RTI application to the PIO of Delhi Police. The respondent stated that the appellant has already been informed that the concerned file was returned to the Delhi Police and that the details of movement of file were provided to the appellant.
View of CIC
The Commission held that since information is not available with the Directorate of Prosecution, no point specific reply can be authorized for disclosure by the Commission. However, the CIC directed the PIO, Directorate of Prosecution to furnish an affidavit affirming the fact that the file(s) have been returned to the Delhi Police and that no further information is available in the records of the Directorate of Prosecution. The Commission also noted that the PIO, Directorate of Prosecution had transferred the RTI Application to the Delhi Police after a delay of nearly a month from the receipt of the RTI application. A show cause notice was issued to the PIO, Directorate of Prosecution by the CIC to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed upon him for obstructing the supply of information by violating section 6(3) of the RTI Act which stipulates that such transfer should take place within 5 days of receipt of the RTI application. Regarding the file notings on movement of the RTI petition, the Commission directed the PIO to allow the appellant to inspect the relevant file and provide him with the file noting/any other document identified by him thereafter.
Citation: Mr. AmitBhargava v. Directorate of Prosecution in File No: CIC/AD/A/2012/002916
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2013/CIC/1342
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission