Documents relating to allotment of government accommodation to Defence Accounts Deptt. (DAD) officers denied citing Sec 7(9) of the RTI Act - CIC: Appellant failed to avail of the opportunity of inspection facility given; No scope for providing any relief
23 Oct, 2021Information Sought:
The appellant has sought the following information:
1. Provide the photocopy of all the documents relating to the allotment of government accommodation to Defence Accounts Deptt. (DAD) officers getting Grade Pay 5400 (AAO, AO & Sr. AO) and posted at Meerut station during the period 01-01-2015 to 30-09-2019.
2. Provide the photocopy of all the correspondences relating to the allotment of government accommodation to DAD officers during the period from 01.01.2015 to 30.09.2019.
3. Provide the photocopy of all the 'Non Availability of Government Accommodation Certificates' issued by CDA (Army), Meerut office during the period from 01.01.2015 to 30.09.2019.
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 willing to avail of inspection facility. He may be given the available documents. He submitted that in case documents for a limited period i.e 2 years only will be given that will be satisfactory. The CPIO submitted that a suitable reply was given on 31.10.2019 and there was no denial of information. The CPIO submitted that even for 2 years the documents cannot be given being too voluminous but they are open for inspection.
Observations:
Based on a perusal of the record, it was noted that the CPIO vide letter dated 31.10.2019 informed the appellant that information sought is not available in the desired format. Moreover, the same cannot be given as it will disproportionately divert the resources of the Commission and attracts Sec 7(9) An information shall ordinarily be provided in the form in which it is sought unless it would disproportionately divert the resources of the public authority or would be detrimental to the safety or preservation of the record in question. of the RTI Act. He was offered inspection on payment of fees as per the RTI Rules 2012. On a query during the hearing, the appellant refused to avail of inspection without providing any grounds.
Decision:
The appellant failed to avail of the opportunity of inspection facility given earlier and also had no grounds for refusing to inspect the documents even now. In view of the same, there is no scope for providing any relief to the appellant.
The appeal is disposed of accordingly.
Vanaja N. Sarna
Information Commissioner
Citation: Rajiv Kumar v. Controller of Defence Account(Army) in File no.: - CIC/CGDAC/A/2020/106230; Date of Decision: 22/09/2021