CIC took a serious note of the fact that the PIO is seeking exemption under a wrong section of the RTI Act - CIC directed the Department of Post to arrange awareness conferences & seminars to sensitize and educate the concerned officials about RTI Act

O R D E R

Information Sought:

The appellant filed an online RTI application on 11.06.2018 and sought information as under:-

“गाजीपुर िडवीज़न मŐिदनाक सेअबतक के ऐसेवावचर, जो िभɄ िभɄ डाकघरोंसेजारी है, जो अभी तक कितपय कारणोवश ˢीकृ त नहींिकयेजा सके हैऔर ˢीकृ त हेतुलंिबत है, के बारेमŐसुचना उपलɩ कराये।

a) Ţ सं

b) वावचर रिजːर का Ţमांक

c) वावचर जारी करनेवालेडाकघर का नाम

d) वावचर िजस कायŊके कारण बनाया गया उसका िववरण (जैसे - कं ɗूटर हाडŊवेयर मरʃत, ːेशनरी / अɊ सामानो की खरीद / मरʃत आिद )

e) वावचर की रािश

f) अबतक भुगतान नहीं होने का कारण”

The CPIO, vide letter dated 12.07.2018, denied information u/s 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. of the RTI Act, 2005. Being dissatisfied, the appellant filed first appeal dated 11.08.2018 which was not disposed of by the FAA.

Grounds for Second Appeal:

The appellant filed second appeal u/s 19 of the Act on the ground of unsatisfactory reply furnished by the respondent. He requested the Commission to direct the CPIO to provide the information sought for.

Submissions made by Appellant and Respondent during Hearing:

The Appellant reiterated the contents of his RTI application and submitted that the information was wrongly denied by the CPIO u/s. 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. of the Act. The information sought is not related to third party personal information but it has a direct bearing to the public activity. He requested the Commission to direct the CPIO to provide the information sought for.

Per contra, the Respondent submitted that the information sought by the Appellant through RTI application is not available in the material form. The respondent averred that the information sought is voluminous in nature and is not readily available with the CPIO in the manner as sought by the appellant, collating and compiling of which would disproportionately divert the resources of the respondent organization. Hence, the disclosure of information is exempted as per the RTI Act. He added that a departmental inquiry is pending against the employees of the post office of Ghazipur, P.O. who were involved in the misappropriation of funds regarding the said vouchers, as sought in RTI application. Since the enquiry in the case is still pending against some of the employees of P.O., Ghazipur and the Disciplinary proceedings are yet to be completed, hence divulging information to any one is likely to impede the disciplinary proceedings. Hence, the information sought for was 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. 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. Thus, the information could not be provided to the appellant.

A written submission (dated Nil) filed by the Appellant, was taken on record.

Decision:

The Commission, after hearing the submissions of both the parties and perusing the records, observes that the respondent has failed to give a consistent justification for denial of information. In the absence of a cogent reply from the respondent, it seemed as if he was trying to seek exemptions from disclosure under the veil of wrong exemption clause.

The Commission, however, considering the averments made by the respondent agrees that since the departmental inquiry in the matter against the employees of Ghazipur P.O. is pending, disclosure of the information sought would impede the process of inquiry. Therefore, the respondent could use the provision of Section 8(1)(h) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders; of the RTI Act and not 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. of the RTI Act, because not all of the information sought is personal in nature.

Nevertheless, the Commission takes serious note of the fact that the CPIO is seeking exemption under a wrong section of the RTI Act. Thus, the Commission directs the Respondent Public Authority to arrange awareness conferences & seminars to sensitize and educate the concerned officials about the relevant provisions of the RTI Act, 2005 for effective discharge of their duties and responsibilities.

With the above observations, the appeal is disposed of. Copy of the decision be provided free of cost to the parties. The appeal, hereby, stands disposed of.

Amita Pandove

Information Commissioner

Citation: Sharda Prasad Mishra v. Department of Post in Second Appeal No. CIC/POSTS/A/2018/171939, Date of order: 20.08.2020