Disclosure of information regarding the pay arrears under RTI

Background

The appellant sought information pertaining to calculation of his pay arrears along with names and designations of the officers who had prepared the working sheets and sanctioned the approval. The Public Information Officer (PIO) provided part information and denied the names and designations of the officers handling the matter without giving any reasons for the denial. The First Appellate Authority (FAA) denied the disclosure of the names of employees under section 8(1)(j) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. of the RTI Act.

View of CIC

The Central information Commission (CIC) disagreed with the view of the PIO that the information sought is exempt under section 8(1)(j) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. . The Commission directed the PIO to provide the name and designations of the persons who had prepared, verified and approved the arrear sheets.

Citation: Shri P.Manoharan v. LIC of India in Appeal: No. CIC/DS/A/2011/001441