Can personal information be disclosed under RTI to family members?

Background        

The appellant filed an application under Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Ministry of Home Affairs seeking information in respect of a certain property. The Public Information Officer (PIO) provided part information and for the rest of the queries, transferred the application to Ministry of Urban Development, Land & Development Office (L&DO). He also informed the appellant to approach L&DO in the matter as the work relating to Government Built Properties situated in Delhi/ New Delhi already stands transferred to L&DO, Ministry of Urban Development. The PIO, Ministry of Urban Development denied the information 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. of the RTI Act, stating no larger public interest appears to be involved.

View of CIC

The respondent from L&DO submitted that the sought information was third party information and was denied to the appellant as he did not establish that he is the family member of the owner. The PIO also stated that the information can be provided to the appellant in case he establishes himself to be a family member of the owner. The Central Information Commission (CIC) noted that the information required is in the nature of personal information of a third party. The Commission advised the appellant to establish his identity before the PIO, L&DO to enable him to provide requisite information.

Comments

Every citizen should file an RTI application in his own name rather than asking a family member to file an application. If an application is not filed on behalf of a family member, the same may be denied 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. .

Citation: Mr. Bhagat Ram Vohra v. Ministry of Home Affairs & Ministry of Urban Development Land & Development Office , in Case No. CIC/SS/A/2011/001051