Copies of Measurement Book for details of measurement for repairs undertaken at the bungalow of GM, ECL was denied u/s 8(1)(d) - CIC: MB is basically an account of quantity of work done, material received, actual measurement etc; provide copy

Copies of Measurement Book (MB) for details of measurement for repairs undertaken at the bungalow of GM, ECL was denied u/s 8(1)(d) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; - CIC: MB is basically an account of quantity of work done, material received & contains the actual measurement with respect to the work done; It does not contain details related to the repairs carried out, which would harm the competitive position of the third party; provide copy

Relevant fact emerging from appeal: RTI Application filed on : 04.12.2012

PIO replied on : 28.01.2013 First Appeal filed on : 15.01.2013

First Appellate Authority (FAA) order on : 07.03.2013

Second Appeal received on 20.05.2013

Information sought: The appellant sought information regarding tender issued, copy of work order, approved noting-sheet of competent authority copies of Measurement Book (MB) for details of measurement etc. and budget clearance certificate for repairs undertaken at the bungalow of General Manager, ECL, Sripur Area.

Relevant facts emerging during hearing:

The appellant is not present. The appellant filed an RTI application dt. 04.12.2012 seeking the above information. CPIO/ECL(HQ) provided information on Points 2 & 5, for point 1 stated that information is available in public domain and for points 3 & 4 denied information u/s 8(1)(d) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; . The FAA in his order directed the CPIO to provide information on Point 3 to the appellant within 10 days. CPIO/ECL(HQ) provided information on Point 3 in compliance of the FAA’s order vide letter dt. 30.11.2012. The respondent stated that information has been provided to the appellant except on Point 4 which is regarding copies of Measurement Book and that the same cannot be provided u/s 8(1)(d) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; of the Act. The respondent stated that a Measurement Book cannot be provided as the information relates to commercial confidence of a third party. He stated that the same is maintained by a contractor and that the public authority only checks the same from time-to-time.

Decision:

From a bare perusal of Section 8(1)(d) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; of the RTI Act, which exempts from disclosure- “information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; it follows that the PIO is exempted from furnishing information including commercial confidence, trade secrets, intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party. Therefore, in order to come within the exemption under Section 8(1)(d) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; of the RTI Act, the critical test to be applied is whether the disclosure of the information sought would harm the competitive position of a third party. A measurement book is basically an account of quantity of work done, material received and contains the actual measurement with respect to the work done. It does not contain details related to the repairs carried out, which would harm the competitive position of the third party. In the instant case, the work done is the repairs in bunglow of General Manager, ECL, Sripur Area, relating to a person who is on a public post and information to that effect can be and should have been provided to the appellant at the first instance. The FAA is hereby cautioned to dispose of an appeal only after taking due cognisance of the facts of each case. In view of the above, the Commission directs CPIO/ECL(HQ) to provide copies of concerned pages of the measurement book, to the appellant, within two weeks of receipt of this order, under intimation to the Commission. The appeal is disposed of accordingly.

(Yashovardhan Azad)

Information Commissioner

Citation: Shri Md. Raju v. Eastern Coalfields Limited in F.No.CIC/SS/A/2013/001542-YA