Disclosure of recruitment of constables of SSB under RTI

Background

The appellant filed a RTI application with the President’s Secretariat seeking information regarding his complaint against the irregularities committed in the recruitment of constables. The Public Information Officer (PIO) transferred his RTI application to the Ministry of Home Affairs which further transferred it to the Seema Shashastra Bal (SSB). The PIO of SSB informed the appellant that the provisions of the Right to Information (RTI) Act did not apply to it as SSB has been included in the Second Schedule by the decision of the Central Government. The provisions of the Right to Information (RTI) Act do not apply to this organisation except in the case of allegations of corruption and human rights violation.

Proceedings

During the hearing before the Central Information Commission (CIC), the respondents argued that although the appellant had alleged that there was corruption in the recruitment process, the allegation was unfounded and the appellant had not succeeded in the recruitment on merits.

View of CIC

The Commission observed that the SSB is not obliged to provide any information in terms of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The present case is not covered by the proviso to section 24 of the RTI Act in the sense that it is not information about human rights violation or about allegations of corruption. The Commission also noted that mere suspicion or allegation of corruption is not enough to warrant such exempted organisations to be brought under the purview of the RTI Act; the allegation of human rights violation or corruption must be backed by credible evidence. The Commission rejected the appeal stating that the allegation of corruption made by the appellant in this case is not backed by any such evidence.

Citation: Shri Umesh Singh v. President’s Secretariat in File No.CIC/SM/A/2011/000975