Copy of leave, if any, obtained by a public servant involved in a criminal case was denied after following the procedure u/s 11 - CIC: information can be denied only if it is exempt as per the provisions of Section 8 or Section 9; provide information
24 Feb, 2014Information sought:
The applicant has sought the following information:-
(1) Kind of leave granted and the dates on which Sh. M Newton Balakrishnan, ASPOs Sivakasi Sub Division, has applied for leave from 30.01.2012 and availed leave may be informed.
(2) A copy of letter if any, given permission to the above official to leave from his HQs may be supplied.
(3) Copy of CL/EL application received from above mentioned official w.e.f. 30.01.2012 may be supplied.
(4) Nature of official work for which the said official went to Dindigul may be intimated.
(5) Dates on which the said official attending his official duty at Sivakasi Sub Division from 30.01.2012.
Grounds for the Second Appeal: The CPIO has not provided the desired information.
Relevant Facts emerging during Hearing: The following were present
Appellant: Mr. R. Ganesan through VC
Respondent: Mr. Subramanian CPIO’s representative through VC
The appellant stated that Shri M Newton Balakrishnan, ASPO Sivakasi was involved in a criminal case and as per the bail orders he had to physically report every day to the Didigul police station and being a public servant was required to obtain permission from the competent authority before leaving station and he wants to know whether any such permission was obtained and if so a copy of the permission order may be provided. The CPIO’s representative stated that the information pertains to an employee and they had carried out the process as outlined under Section 11 of the RTI Act but the employee has objected to the disclosure. The appellant contested stating that the employee was involved in a criminal case and as per the rules cannot leave station without permission and as such the information is disclosable in public interest. To a query the CPIO’s representative was unable to give any satisfactory reason for withholding the information.
Decision notice:
The information can be denied only if it is exempt as per the provisions of Section 8 or Section 9 of the RTI Act. Further, while denying the information the authority withholding the information must show satisfactory reasons and such reason should be germane and based on some material. Sans this consideration the information cannot be denied. In the instant case the CPIO’s representative has been unable to show any satisfactory reasons for withholding the information. Thus, there is no legitimate ground for not releasing the information. Hence, the CPIO is directed to furnish the information as above to the appellant within 15 days from the date of receipt of this order. The appeal is disposed of accordingly.
BASANT SETH
Information Commissioner
Citation: Mr. R. Ganesan v. Department of Posts in File No. CIC/BS/A/2013/000059/4371