CIC: Provide a copy of the transfer policy, audit report carried out by the Accountant General, reply given for the audit observations and a copy of the Agenda and Minutes of the meetings of the Board of Governors (BoG) for the specific period

Information Sought:

The appellant in his second appeal has stated that he has not been provided information on the following points of his RTI application:

1. Provide the agenda, recommendations of all the DPC meetings held from 2014 to June 2018. Also provide the approval of the competent authority and the note-sheets related to the same.

3. Details of the vacant posts as on date and the date from which the said posts are lying vacant.

5. Provide a copy of the transfer policy.

6. Provide audit report for the period from January, 2016 to June, 2018, for audit carried out by the Accountant General, Gwalior and reply given for the audit observations.

9. Provide copy of the Agenda and Minutes of the meetings of the Board of Governors (BoG) for the period from January, 2017 to June, 2018.

Grounds for the Second Appeal

The CPIO did not provide the desired information in respect of query 1,3,5,6 and 9 of the RTI Application.

Submissions made by Appellant and Respondent during Hearing:

The appellant submitted that he is not satisfied with the reply of the CPIO in respect of points no. 1,3,5 and 6 of the RTI application. The CPIO submitted that out of 9 points 4 points were replied to, and for the remaining points the appellant had filed first appeal to the FAA. The FAA pleaded that the appellant is also an employee of their organisation. He was informed by the Commission that being an employee does not bar the concerned citizen from filing an RTI application. The CPIO in respect of point no. 1 of the RTI application submitted that the information sought is vague in nature as the same is asked for the period 2014 to 2018, without mention of any specific details. He also relied on a decision of the Commission in the matter of Yashovardhan Shukla in case no. CIC/NITRB/A/2019/130968 which was not found related to the present case. In respect of point no. 5, the CPIO submitted that the institution has 4 other centres i.e in Pune, Ahmedabad, Goa, Raipur. He further submitted that from time to time as per requirement Director is empowered to transfer and recruit as per need. In respect of points no 6 & 9, he again submitted that the information sought is vague and also a enquiry is pending in regard to the same.

On a query by the Commission the appellant submitted that in respect of point no.1 the DPC after it is over should be in public domain. In respect of point no. 3 information was asked relating to the period 2014-2018 but was given of recently only. He also submitted that the reply in respect of points no. 5,6 and 9 was not given.

Observations:

Based on a perusal of the record, it was noted that the reply in respect of points no. 1 & 3 were given. In respect of points no. 5, 6 and 9 information sought was not given by the CPIO till date.

Decision:

In view of the above observations, the Commission observed that a proper reply was given vide letter dated 24.08.2020. In respect of the rest of the points a proper reply was not given. The points no. 5, 6 and 9 are disclosable and the exemption claimed by the respondent are unsubstantiated and therefore information as available should be given. In case the information sought is not available the CPIO should categorically state that in his reply. The CPIO is therefore directed to revisit the queries sought by the appellant and provide a revised point-wise reply within 7 days from the date of issue of this order.

The appeal is disposed of accordingly.

Vanaja N. Sarna

Information Commissioner

Citation: Shrawan Kumar Patel v. National Institute of Teacher’s Training and Research in Decision no.: CIC/NITRB/A/2018/158216, Date of Decision : 07/09/2020