Copies of the documents showing the withdrawal of appeal/writ/review petitions from various competent courts/High courts by Rajasthan Circle, BSNL - PIO: no such information is either collected by them or available in the records - CIC: denial upheld
17 May, 2014Information sought:
The applicant has sought the information:
1. Action taken by the Circle Office, Jaipur on BSNL HQ Order No. 400-164/2012-Pers-I dated 20.09.2012.
2. Provide the copies of the documents showing the withdrawal of appeal/writ/review petitions from various competent courts/High courts by Rajasthan Circle.
Grounds for the Second Appeal:
The CPIO has not provided the desired information.
Relevant Facts emerging during Hearing:
The following were present Appellant: Absent Respondent: Mr. Lala Ram CPIO’s representative through VC through VC
The appellant was given an opportunity to participate in the hearing, however, he is absent.
The CPIO’s representative stated that the information requested by the appellant in para 1 of his RTI application dated 23/10/2012 has been provided vide letter dated 01/12/2012. He further stated that in para 2 the appellant had requested for information relating to withdrawal of cases but no such information is either collected by them or available in the records of the Circle office.
Decision notice:
It is seen that a coordinate bench of the Commission in its decision dated 11/09/2006 (File No. CIC/MA/2006/00636 A. Santosh Mathew vs. DoPT) has held as under: “Thus, a CPIO is expected to provide the information available with him. He is not required to collect and compile the information on the demand of a requester nor is he expected to create a fresh one merely because someone has asked for it. Because, such attempts would not allow for scrutiny of public action to detect and determine the nature and extent of deviation from the accepted polices……..” From the CPIO’s representative’s submissions it appears that the information, as available on record, has been provided. The appellant has not availed the opportunity to appear before the Commission to canvass his case/contest the CPIO’s representative’s submissions. In the above circumstances we are unable to provide any relief. The matter is closed.
BASANT SETH
Information Commissioner
Citation: Mr. Purandas Balai v. BSNL in File No. CIC/BS/A/2013/000695/4984