Certain information was sought from the Government Mint (A Unit of SPMCIL) - CIC: Respondent to file an affidavit mentioning all the efforts undertaken in tracing the relevant documents as sought and that these are not available with the Public Authority

O R D E R

1. The appellant filed an application under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) before the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), India Govt. Mint Mumbai (A Unit of Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited (SPMCIL), Mumbai seeking following information:-

1. Whether letter no. CHO/IR/8/5/2011/7209 dated 16.02.2015 forwarded to The General Manager, India Government Mint, Mumbai by SPMCIL, CO, New Delhi. Please provided answer is YES or NO.

2. If Yes, provide the photocopies of Office Copy of letter no. CHO/IR/8/5/2011/7209 dated 16.02.2015 received by The General Manager, India Government Mint, Mumbai alongwith the file noting and signature of the officers.

3. If Yes, provide all the photocopies of the documents which are prepared executed in India Government Mint, Mumbai and action taken report till date alongwith the file noting and signature of the officers w.r.t letter no. CHO/IR/8/5/2011/7209 dated 16.02.2015.

4. Refer last line of letter no. CHO/IR/8/5/2011/7209 dated 16.02.2015 mentioned, “The Unit is requested to send points wise comments at the earliest please.” In this regard, provide all the photocopies of the document which are issued to SPMCIL, CO, New Delhi alongwith the file noting and signature of the officers.

5. Provide date of receipt of letter no. CHO/IR/8/5/2011/7209 dated 16.02.2015 & source of receiving this letter (e.g. FAX, Speed Post, RPAD or other) in India Government Mint, Mumbai, Inward number, File Number alongwith Daily progress from date of receipt till date of disposal of this letter.

6. Provide the photocopy of the order passed by The General Manager, India Government Mint, Mumbai with refer to letter no. CHO/IR/8/5/2011/7209 dated 16.02.2015.

7. Provide the names, designations and email addresses of officials in The General Manager, India Government Mint, Mumbai with whom the letter no. CHO/IR/8/5/2011/7209 dated 16.02.2015 was lying during this period and date wise period with each official and details of action taken by him/her.

8. It is confirmed by PIO of SPMCIL, New Delhi under RTI Act that letter no. MMSU/02/2015 dated 22.01.2015 & letter no. MMSU/03/2015 dated 22.01.2015 was enclosed with letter no. CHO/IR/8/5/2011/7209 dated 16.02.2015. In this regard confirm that whether letter no. MMSU/02/2015 dated 22.01.2015 & letter no. MMSU/03/2015 dated 22.01.2015 was received by The General Manager, India Government Mint, Mumbai alongwith letter no. CHO/IR/8/5/2011/7209 dated 16.02.2015. Please provide answer is YES or NO.

2. The CPIO responded on 16.02.2018. The appellant filed the first appeal dated 17.02.2018 which was not disposed of by the first appellate authority. Thereafter, he filed a second appeal u/Section 19(3) A second appeal against the decision under sub-section (1) shall lie within ninety days from the date on which the decision should have been made or was actually received, with the Central Information Commission or the State Information Commission: Provided that the Central Information Commission or the State Information Commission, as the case may be, may admit the appeal after the expiry of the period of ninety days if it is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal in time. of the RTI Act before the Commission requesting to take appropriate legal action against the CPIO u/Section 20 of the RTI Act and also to direct him to provide the sought for information.

Hearing:

3. The appellant, Mr. Satish Ashok Sherkhane attended the hearing through video conferencing. Mr. Mehul Rathore, Officer (HR) participated in the hearing representing the respondent through video conferencing. The written submissions are taken on record.

 4. The appellant stated that the respondent should be directed to provide the sought for information.

5. The respondent informed the Commission that the information sought through the instant RTI Application, is not traceable in their records despite best of their efforts and the same was categorically intimated to the appellant vide their letter dated 16.02.2018.

Decision:

6. This Commission on the basis of perusal of facts on record observes that that due information, as available in records, has been provided to the appellant vide letter dated 16.02.2018. However, the respondent is directed to file an appropriate affidavit mentioning all the efforts undertaken in tracing the relevant documents as sought in the RTI Application and these are not available with the Public Authority. The said affidavit should be sent to the Commission with its copy duly endorsed to the appellant.

7. With the above observations, the appeal is disposed of.

 8. Copy of the decision be provided free of cost to the parties.

Neeraj Kumar Gupta

Information Commissioner

Citation: Satish Ashok Sherkhane v. The CPIO, India Govt. Mint. Mumbai (A Unit of Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited (SPMCIL) in Second Appeal No. CIC/IGMUM/C/2018/612566, Date of decision: 17-10-2019