Applicant: What happened to the chargesheets issued to certain individuals for embezzlement of public fund? - CIC: Inform the broad outcome of the final order passed on the chargesheet and the final outcome of departmental disciplinary appeal

The instant case has been heard on a priority basis based on the approval of early hearing application filed by the Appellant.

Information sought:

The Appellant filed an RTI application (offline) dated 03.10.2023 seeking the following information:

“As you are well aware that it was a talk of town that one Sh. Mangat Ram working as Head Cashier in different Operation Sub Divisions, U.T. Chandigarh has embezzled a sum of Rs. 1,63,34,551/- and Rs. 19,27,283/- from Division No.3, Sub Division No.7 and Division 1, Sub Division No.4 respectively and he was convicted and sentenced in three different criminal cases by the Additional District & Sessions Judge, Chandigarh. He was also served with a chargesheet and vide order dated 10.05.2010 of Sh. Surinder Pal, Chief Engineer, U.T. Chandigarh penalty of withholding of whole of pension till the embezzled money amounting to Rs. 1,63,34,551/- is recovered from him and other pensionary benefits i.e. Leave Encashment, DCRG was also ordered to be recovered from said Sh. Mangat Ram towards aforesaid loss to the Govt. exchequer. Two inquiries were conducted one by Sh. C.L. Lakhanpal, IAS (Retd.) who submitted the report on 29.07.2009 against Sh. Mangat Ram, Cashier and another inquiry was conducted by Sh. H.R. Ganger, IAS (Retd.) against Sarv Shiri M.P. Singh, S.E. (Electy), Anil Dhamija, XEN, G.S. Mast, XEN (Retd.), Rajnish Sharma, XEN (Retd.), S.K. Manrow, ASE (PSPCL), Deepak Kanodia, XEN, UHBVNL, A.K. Setia, DAO and B.M. Sharma, DAO received vide letters dated 28.07.2010. As per the documents available on record, the following persons were Chargesheeted:

ii) Charge-sheet to be served upon S/Sh. A.K. Setia and B.M. Sharma, DAOs have been sent in Accountant General (A&K), Punjab & U.T. Chandigarh vide this office memo no.1877 dated 1.3.2018

iii) Charge-sheet to be served upon S/Sh. Rajnish Sharma, XEN (Retd.) G.B. Mast, XRN (Retd.) and Anil Dhamija have been sent to 8.8. Electy. Vide this office Memo no. 1961 dated 06.03.2018.

iv) Charge-sheet to be served upon Sh. Deepak Kanodia, XEN (UHBVNL cadre) has been sent in M.D. UHBVNI, vide thin office meme no. 1962 dated 06.03.2018.

v) Charge-sheet to be served upon Sh. B.K. Manrow, ASE (PSPCL cadre) has been sent to Joint Secy/Tech-l, PSPCL vide this office memo No. 1903 dated 06.03.2018.

After serving the chargesheet to the above mentioned officers/officials nothing has been beard so far and ne does not know as to what happened to the chargesheets as to whether some major or minor penalty has been imposed or not and whether the embezzled amount in connivance with each other and on account of serious lapse on their part the loss caused to the State exchequer has been recovered.

It may not be out of place to mention that the embezzled amount was the public money. No person can be allowed to go scot free. As stated above the embezzled amount is Rs. 1,53,34,551/- and Rs. 19,27,283/-, inquiries were held, chargesheets were issued to all the delinquent officials and an order imposing punishment on Mangal Ram was sed Orders in pursuance of the chargesheet issued to various other officers/officials are not forthcoming and public interest is involved being public money and therefore, I request you to supply the following information/documents so as to take up the matter to the logical end:-

1. Duly authenticated copy of the final orders passed on the chargesheet issue to Sarv Shiri A.K. Setia, B.M. Sharma, Rajnish Sharma, G.B. Mast, Anil Dhamija, Deepak Kanodia, S.K. Manrow.

2. Copies of the Appeals filed by the individuals, if any.

3.Copies of the final orders passed by the Appellate Authority and Reviewing Authority.

4. kindly supply the details of the amount embezzled and the amount recovered from the respective persons who are responsible for the embezzlement of public fund

5. Detail of the balance amount to be recovered from the erring officials/officers. The information may please be supplied in the following manner

Sr. No

Name of the officer/ official

Recoverable Amount

Amount recovered detail whether from Pension/ wise recovery DCRO leave encashment

Details of the proceedings instituted against the official/officer for recovery as a Land revenue and the result thereof

6 Duly certified copies of promotion orders of all the above mentioned officials/officers who were chargesheeted.”

The PIO furnished a reply to the Appellant on 01.11.2023 stating as under:

“In this connection, the concerned branch, being custodian of the record, referred the CIC decision No. CIC/UT/OAN/Α/2018/141917 dated 29.01.2020, which relies upon the judgement of Hon'ble Supreme Court in civil appeal No.10044 of 2010 with Civil Appeal No.10045 of 2010, which held that the charge-sheet, disciplinary proceedings, professional records etc. are all personal information. Further, Hon'ble Supreme Court in its order dated 03.10.2012 in SLP (Civil) No.27734/2012 in case titled as Girish Ramchandra Deshpande Vs. CIC and others has observed that copies of all memos issued to third respondent, show cause notices and orders of censure/punishment etc. are qualified to be personal information as defined in Clause (j) of Section 8(1) of the RTI Act and also observed that petitioner cannot claim those details as a matter of right.

Hence, the information sought in subject cited RTI is exempted for disclosure under Section 8(1) (j) of the RTI Act-2005.”

Being dissatisfied, the appellant filed a First Appeal dated 29.11.2023. The FAA vide its order dated 15.01.2024, held as under.

“I have gone through the RTI application dated 03.10.2023 and reply of the CPIO dated 01.11.2023 on the same and the points raised by the appellant in his appeal dated 29.11.2023 and subsequent comments of CPIO on the appeal of the appellant, the undersigned fully agrees with the decision of CPIO and the appeal is disposed off.”

Feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied, appellant approached the Commission with the instant Second Appeal on the following grounds:

“…Grounds of Appeal: i. Sir, the information sought by the applicant is exclusively in the public interest the embezzlement issue was highlighted in the newspapers of Chandigarh and there is nothing any sort of personal information or privacy involved of the officers to whom charge sheet had been issued. The information has been denied due to strong influence of the Engineer Officers involved and they are being protected by the Chief Engineer of the Engineering Department, Chandigarh. Chandigarh Administration,..”

Relevant Facts emerged during Hearing:

The following were present:-

Appellant: Present through video-conference.

Respondent: Shri Chandrashekhar, Executive Engineer (HQ)/CPIO present through video-conference.

A written submission dated Nil filed by the Respondent (EE(HQ)/CPIO, O/O Chief Engineer, U.T. Chandigarh is taken on record wherein he reiterated their stand for denial of information.

The Appellant while reiterating the contents of his RTI application expressed his dissatisfaction to the fact that the information has been wrongly denied to him under Section 8(1)(j) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. of the RTI Act ignoring the fact that it related to a massive scam and records have been sought for in larger public interest.

Upon being asked by the Commission as to whether he was the informer/complainant based on which action initiated against the delinquent officials, he answered in negative.

Respondent submitted that information sought by the appellant regarding chargesheet, disciplinary action/proceedings, etc. taken against the third-party officer, disclosure of which would invade their privacy. Therefore, information has been denied to the appellant under Section 8(1)(j) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. of the RTI Act.

At the behest of the Commission, the respondent volunteered to intimate the broad outcome of the order passed on the chargesheet served to the third parties.

Decision:

The Commission, after adverting to the facts and circumstances of the case and perusal of the records, notes that the main premise of the instant Appeal was denial of information by the Respondent. In response to which, the Respondent replied that since the information sought by the Appellant i.e. disciplinary proceedings against the averred officers which pertains to personal information of third party, therefore, information being exempted from disclosure has been denied to the Appellant under Section 8(1)(j) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. of the RTI Act.

The Commission is of considered view that the respondent has appropriately denied the copy of documents to the appellant as it contains personal information of third party which cannot be disclosed under Section 8(1)(j) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. of the RTI Act. The same can be garnered from a bare perusal of the text of Section 8(1)(j) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. of the RTI Act as under:

“8. Exemption from disclosure of information.—

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen,

xxx

(j) information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information;..”

In this regard, attention of the Appellant is drawn towards a judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the matter of Central Public Information Officer, Supreme Court of India Vs. Subhash Chandra Agarwal in Civil Appeal No. 10044 of 2010 with Civil Appeal No. 10045 of 2010 and Civil Appeal No. 2683 of 2010 wherein the import of “personal information” envisaged under Section 8(1)(j) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. of RTI Act has been exemplified in the context of earlier ratios laid down by the same Court in the matter(s) of Canara Bank Vs. C.S. Shyam in Civil Appeal No.22 of 2009; Girish Ramchandra Deshpande vs. Central Information Commissioner & Ors., (2013) 1 SCC 212 and R.K. Jain vs. Union of India & Anr., (2013) 14 SCC 794. The following was thus held:

“59. Reading of the aforesaid judicial precedents, in our opinion, would indicate that personal records, including name, address, physical, mental and psychological status, marks obtained, grades and answer sheets, are all treated as personal information. Similarly, professional records, including qualification, performance, evaluation reports, ACRs, disciplinary proceedings, etc. are all personal information. Medical records, treatment, choice of medicine, list of hospitals and doctors visited, findings recorded, including that of the family members, information relating to assets, liabilities, income tax returns, details of investments, lending and borrowing, etc. are personal information. Such personal information is entitled to protection from unwarranted invasion of privacy and conditional access is available when stipulation of larger public interest is satisfied. This list is indicative and not exhaustive…”

Nonetheless, considering the issue flagged by the appellant and in the light of larger public interest and a natural public expectations to know the broad outcome of a case which was in the public domain, the Respondent is directed to inform the broad outcome of the final order passed on the chargesheet issued to the officials as also the final outcome of departmental disciplinary appeal as mentioned in the RTI application, free of cost to the appellant. This reply should be given by the respondent within four weeks of the date of receipt of this order.

FAA to ensure compliance of the directions.

The appeal is disposed of accordingly.

Vinod Kumar Tiwari

Information Commissioner

Citation: Ram Lal Arora v. Executive Engineer (HQ), O/o Chief Engineer, Chandigarh Administration, CIC/ENGDP/A/2024/611452; Date of Decision: 14.01.2025