Disclosure of note sheets and suspension revocation orders

Background

The appellant sought the copy of the office note and the letters of revocation of suspension issued to bank officials in the trap cases by CBI in last 10 years. The PIO refused to give the information stating that these letters and notes may also contain names of other persons against whom suspension may not have been revoked and claimed exemption under Section 8 (1)(j) of the RTI Act.

View of CIC

The commission did not accept the plea for exemption 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. , observing that where the State routinely obtains information from Citizens, such as assets of a Public servant, it cannot be construed as an invasion on the privacy of an individual. All such information are said to have a relationship to a public activity. The Commission further stated that the Supreme Court of India has ruled that the Citizens have right to know the criminal charges against those who want to become Public Servants (stand for elections).

Comments

The order raises the question of defining what is privacy. As per the above order, 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. can be invoked only when the sought information relates to personal information or which has no relationship to any public activity or interest. The orders of other benches of the Information Commission have been contradictory on this count.

Mr. Yogesh Kumar Jain v. Dena Bank in CIC/SG/A/2011/001932/15928