Copies of the purchase orders placed & bills received from a supplier; certified statement of all the payments made by SBI & details of services provided by that vendor were denied u/s 8(1)(d) - CIC: provide certified copy of the contract to the appellant
3 Feb, 2014O R D E R
RTI application
1. The appellant filed an RTI application with the PIO on 24.8.2012 seeking certified copies of the purchase orders placed & bills/invoices received from a vendor/supplier and certified statement of all the payments made by SBI & details of services provided by that vendor in a given table. In all, information has been sought on 4 points. The CPIO denied the information on 8.9.2012 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; of the RTI Act.
2. Not satisfied with the reply of the PIO, the appellant filed an appeal on 24.9.2012 with the first appellate authority (FAA). The FAA, while generally upholding the reply of CPIO on 5.10.2012, directed the CPIO to provide a statement to the appellant as requested under para 1(c) of her RTI application. The appellant approached the Commission on 7.1.2013 in second appeal.
Hearing
3. The appellant’s representative and the respondent both participated in the hearing through video conferencing.
4. The appellant’s representative referred to the RTI application of 24.8.2012 containing four points of information stated that while information on all the points were denied by the CPIO on 8.9.2012, only part information in respect of point 1(c), i.e., details of payments but without reference to tender number, was provided after the order of the FAA dated 5.10.2012.
5. The respondent stated that the appellant had sought information about the various purchase orders, bills and invoices, payments made along with details of services provided by a certain entity who was the vendor of the SBI of certain racks for use by the server. The respondent stated that the RTI request of 24.8.2012 was responded to by the CPIO on 8.9.2012 and the information was denied 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; of the RTI Act because in view of the bank, this was of commercial confidence and hence exempted from disclosure.
6. The respondent stated that when the matter came up to the level of the FAA on first appeal, the FAA directed the CPIO to provide information on one of the 4 points, but in respect of other information, that was of a sensitive nature and also invoking commercial confidentiality, that information was denied.
7. The appellant’s representative stated that there is no element of commercial confidence involved in the information sought, i.e., certified copies of purchase orders released, bills and invoices, payments made.
8. The respondent stated that copy of the contract can be given. In so far as purchase orders are concerned, it contains material sensitive, disclosure of which will jeopardize the security of the bank.
Decision
9. The respondent is directed to provide certified copy of the contract to the appellant within 30 days of this order. The appeal is disposed of. Copy of the decision be given free of cost to both the parties.
(Vijai Sharma)
Information Commission
Citation: Ms. Neetu P. v. State Bank of India in Decision No. CIC/VS/A/2013/000381/05732