Copy of the agreement entered into by BSNL with the Contractor in relation to the engaging vehicles and related information was denied - Appellant alleged irregularities and submitted that no agreement is secret - CIC upheld the denial of information

Information Sought:

The appellant has sought the following information in respect of BSNL Aligarh:

1. Copy of the agreement entered into between BSNL and Contractor in relation to the vehicles engaged on contract.

2. Details of the staff members who have been allotted the staff car in Aligarh SSA with details of vehicle allotted.

3. Copy of the log book of each allotted vehicle.

4. And other related information.

Grounds for Second Appeal

The CPIO did not provide the desired information.

Submissions made by Appellant and Respondent during Hearing:

The appellant submitted that he is not satisfied with the reply in respect of points no. 1 & 2 of the RTI application. He further submitted that no agreement is secret and he alleged that there are irregularities in the vehicles contract and thus the respondent authority is hiding the facts.

The CPIO reiterated the reply dated 28.07.2018 and the FAA’s order dated 11.09.2018 and explained that they are a commercial department and have business rivals and therefore the information was denied on point no. 1 and further, details of staff members and their travels in staff car was denied due to security reasons, as details of who goes on field visits etc cannot be divulged to protect the concerned officials.

Observations:

Based on a perusal of the record, it was noted that the information sought in respect of point no. 1 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; and (j) of the RTI Act. The respondent further submitted that the information sought in respect of point no. 2 was denied u/s 8(1)(g) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information, the disclosure of which would endanger the life or physical safety of any person or identify the source of information or assistance given in confidence for law enforcement or security purposes; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information, the disclosure of which would endanger the life or physical safety of any person or identify the source of information or assistance given in confidence for law enforcement or security purposes; of the RTI Act. It is relevant to mention here that  the copy of the agreement entered into between BSNL and Contractor in relation to the vehicles engaged on contract is an agreement between the respondent and the third party and the disclosure of the same can breach the  commercial confidence of the third party and hence Sec 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; exemption is applicable. In so far as the point no. 2 of the RTI application is concerned, the details of the staff members who have been allotted the staff car in Aligarh SSA with details of vehicle allotted cannot be disclosed as rightly replied by the PIO.

The same is exempted u/s 8(1)(g) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information, the disclosure of which would endanger the life or physical safety of any person or identify the source of information or assistance given in confidence for law enforcement or security purposes; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information, the disclosure of which would endanger the life or physical safety of any person or identify the source of information or assistance given in confidence for law enforcement or security purposes; of the RTI Act. Sec 8(1) (g) reads as under:

“ information, the disclosure of which would endanger the life or physical safety of any person or identify the source of information or assistance given in confidence for law enforcement or security purposes;”

In view of the same, the Commission agrees with the CPIO’s contention that disclosure of such details as to which staff is allotted with which vehicle, may endanger the life or physical safety of the staff.

Decision:

In view of the submissions of the CPIO, the Commission finds no scope for any intervention in the matter. The Commission accordingly upholds the submissions of the CPIO. No further action lies.

The appeal is disposed of accordingly.

Vanaja N. Sarna

Information Commissioner

Citation: Kayam Singh Yadav v. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) in File no.: CIC/BSNLD/A/2018/172913, Date of Decision: 11/06/2020