Appellant sought details of patients who were operated with joint replacement in Army R & R Hospital - CIC: Information regarding operation/illness etc. of patients is exempt from disclosure under Section 8(1)(e) of the RTI Act
10 Jun, 2020Information sought:
The Appellant sought details of patients who were operated with joint replacement in Army R & R Hospital.
Grounds for the Second Appeal:
The CPIO has not provided the desired information.
Relevant Facts emerging during Hearing:
The following were present:-
Appellant: Present in person.
Respondent: Lt Alokesh Roy, OIC (Legal Cell) & Rep. of CPIO, Army R&R Hospital, Dhaula Kuan, New Delhi present in person.
Appellant stated that he has not received any reply from the CPIO. Rep. of CPIO submitted that appropriate reply was sent to the Appellant on 19.9.2017 and produced a copy of the same during hearing for perusal of the Commission.
Decision
Commission has gone through the reply and observes that CPIO has appropriately denied information largely sought in the RTI Application. Commission further observes that information regarding operation/illness etc. of patients is exempt from disclosure 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; of the RTI Act.
CPIO’s reply is upheld and he is also directed to send a copy of the aforesaid reply to the Appellant through registered/speed post free of cost within 15 days of receipt of this order. A compliance report to this effect shall be sent by the CPIO to the Commission.
The appeal is disposed of accordingly.
Divya Prakash Sinha
Information Commissioner
Citation: Anand Singh Negi v. CPIO, Army R&R Hospital File No: CIC/IARMY/A/2018/145205, Date of Decision: 22/01/2020