An ex-teacher filed a complaint and sought action taken report - CIC: Appellant is harping on a grievance which is outside it’s adjudicatory powers - CIC: Principal to submit a sworn affidavit stating that information as available, has been provided
20 Jul, 2020CIC/DIRED/A/2018/145056
The Appellant filed an RTI application dated 16.02.2018 seeking information on the following 11 points:
1. Provide daily progress report and Action Taken report on appellant’s complaint dated 17.03.2017.
2. Provide daily progress report and Action Taken report on appellant’s complaint dated 07.06.2017.
3. Provide diary number with date, daily progress report and Action Taken report on appellant’s complaint about mismatch of applicant’s salary for months July-September, 2017.
4. Provide diary number with date, daily progress report and Action Taken report on appellant’s complaint about non-receipt of applicant’s salary for months July-September, 2017.
5. Provide diary number with date, daily progress report and Action Taken report on appellant’s complaint about A/T, guest teacher Sh. Sachin Sharma. And etc.
PIO/Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya, vide letter dated 17.03.2018 furnished a point-wise reply to the Appellant.
Dissatisfied with the reply received from the PIO, Appellant filed a First Appeal dated 03.04.2018. FAA vide order dated 08.05.2018 upheld the reply of PIO.
Feeling aggrieved as dissatisfied, Appellant approached the Commission with the instant Second Appeal.
Facts emerging in Course of Hearing:
In order to ensure social distancing and prevent the spread of the pandemic, COVID-19, audio hearings were scheduled after giving prior notice to both the parties.
The Appellant participated in the hearing on being contacted on his telephone.
He stated that he is not satisfied with the reply provided by the Respondent. He further stated that he was an ex-employee and worked as a Teacher at Rajkiya Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya, Old Seelampur and presently he is presently working at Ashok Nagar School. Appellant claimed that the Principal and staff of the Rajkiya Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya, Old Seelampur behaved rudely with the Appellant, which constitutes harassment. He further stated that no action has been taken against the concerned employees and alleged that there has been tampering of documents by the Respondent public authority. He added that complaints were filed before the Director on 15.08.2019 and before the Vigilance Branch, Anand Vihar on 30.10.2019. He pressed that he wants action taken reports on his complaints of 17.03.2017 and 07.06.2017.
Respondent is represented by Shri Anil Dwivedi, PIO/HoS/Principal, Rajkiya Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya present through audio conference. He submitted that available information has been provided to the Appellant.
Appellant interjected to state that the information on point no. 3 of the RTI Application wherein he has sought reasons for delay in remitting his salary but the Respondent public authority has provided certain papers regarding salary bills without providing any reasons thereof.
In response, PIO submitted that the issue regarding late remittance of salary was not only in the case of Appellant but with all the staff. Owing to technical issues connected with the NIC salaries of the staff could not be processed in time.
Decision:
Upon perusal of facts on record as well as on the basis of the proceedings during hearing, Commission observes that the Respondent public authority has provided around 60 pages of documents to the Appellant. The Commission further observes that the Appellant is harping on a grievance which cannot be redressed as the same is outside its adjudicatory powers. However, considering the facts and circumstances of the instant case, Commission deems it fit to direct the PIO/HoS/Principal of Rajkiya Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya, Old Seelampur to submit a sworn affidavit on non-judicial stamp paper stating that information as available in the school records has been provided to the Appellant. The said affidavit should be sent to the Commission with a copy duly endorsed to the Appellant within 3 weeks from the date of issue of this order.
CIC/DIRED/A/2019/117416
The Appellant filed an RTI application dated 12.01.2019 seeking information on the following 4 points:
1. Provide certified copy of Attendance Register of all the Staff of Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya, Purana Seelampur for the period from 01/08/2018 till the date of reply of this RTI Application.
2. Provide certified copy of Movement Register of Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya, Purana Seelampur for the period from 01/09/2018 till the date of reply of this RTI Application.
3. Provide certified copy of all the Leave Application of all the staff of Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya, Purana Seelampur for the period from 01/09/2018 till the date of reply of this RTI Application.
4. Provide certified copy of ON DUTY certificates of all the staff of Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya, Purana Seelampur for the period from 01/09/2018 till the date of reply of this RTI Application.
Having not received any reply from the PIO, Appellant filed First Appeal dated 25.02.2019. PIO/HOS (Rajkiya Sarvodayaa Bal Vidyalaya), vide letter dated 18.03.2019 furnished a point wise reply to the Appellant. FAA vide order dated 22.03.2019 upheld the reply of PIO.
Feeling aggrieved as dissatisfied, Appellant approached the Commission with the instant Second Appeal.
CIC/DIRED/A/2019/134054
The Appellant filed an RTI application dated 01.04.2019 seeking information on the following 6 points:
1. Provide certified copy of Attendance Register of all the Staff of Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya, Purana Seelampur for the period from 01/04/2017 to 31/07/2018.
2. Provide certified copy of Movement Register of Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya, Purana Seelampur for the period from 01/07/2017 to 31/07/2017.
3. Provide certified copy of all the Leave Application of all the staff of Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya, Purana Seelampur for the period from 01/04/2017 till the date of reply of this RTI Application.
4. Provide certified copy of ON DUTY certificates of all the staff of Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya, Purana Seelampur for the period from 01/04/2017 till the date of reply of this RTI Application. Etc.
PIO/Assistant Director of Education, District East vide letter dated 07.04.2019 sought information from APIO/HoS/Principal, RSBV Old Seelampur under Section 5(4) of the RTI Act. In response, the PIO, Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya, Old Seelampur vide letter dated 29.04.2019 requested the Appellant to deposit a sum of Rs. 446/- for providing 223 pages of information. Being dissatisfied, the Appellant filed a First Appeal dated 29.05.2019. FAA vide order dated 28.06.2019 upheld the reply of PIO. Feeling aggrieved as dissatisfied, Appellant approached the Commission with the instant Second Appeal.
Facts emerging in Course of Hearing:
In order to ensure social distancing and prevent the spread of the pandemic, COVID-19, audio hearings were scheduled after giving prior notice to both the parties. At the outset, Commission remarked that File No. CIC/DIRED/A/2019/117416 and File No. CIC/DIRED/A/2019/134054 will be heard together for adjudication since the subject-matter of these RTI Applications is identical.
The Appellant participated in the hearing on being contacted on his telephone. He stated that he is not satisfied with the information received on point no. 3 of the RTI Application in File No. CIC/DIRED/A/2019/117416. He further stated that he has not received biometric attendance details as sought at point no. 5 of the RTI Application in File No. CIC/DIRED/A/2019/134054 and admitted that he has received information on point no. 6 regarding dispatch and diary register. Respondent is represented by Shri Anil Dwivedi, PIO/HoS/Principal, Rajkiya Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya present through audio conference. He submitted that information as available in the records has been provided to the Appellant. He further submitted that the biometric attendance of the staff is not available.
Decision:
Upon perusal of the facts on record as well as on the basis of the proceedings during hearing, Commission observes that the information regarding leave application of the staff sought at point no. 3 of the RTI Application in File No. CIC/DIRED/A/2019/117416 and biometric attendance of the staff of Respondent public authority sought at point no. 5 of the RTI Application in File No. CIC/DIRED/A/2019/134054 cannot be disclosed since it pertains to third party and the same is exempt from disclosure 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. However, since the biometric attendance of the staff is not available in the records but is an official document, the PIO/HoS/Principal of Rajkiya Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya, Old Seelampur to submit a sworn affidavit on non-judicial stamp paper stating that the information sought at point no. 5 of the RTI Application in File No. CIC/DIRED/A/2019/134054 is not available in the school records.
The said affidavit should be sent to the Commission with a copy duly endorsed to the Appellant within 3 weeks from the date of issue of this order.
CIC/DIRED/A/2019/138045
The Appellant filed an RTI application dated 07.06.2019 seeking information on the following 7 points:
1. Provide list of the Officers with designation who recently conducted audit of Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya, Purana Seelampur.
2. Provide of certified copy Income Tax related documents of all the staff of Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya, Purana Seelampur from 2013.
3. Provide details of IT Recovery from the Guest Teachers of the School as per the above audit? If no Guest Teacher was liable for Recovery, provide the reasons thereof. And Etc.
PIO/Sarvodoya Bal Vidyalaya, vide letter dated 01.07.2019 furnished the point wise reply to the Appellant.
Dissatisfied with the reply received from the PIO, Appellant filed First Appeal dated 05.07.2019. FAA vide order dated 24.07.2019 upheld the reply of PIO.
Feeling aggrieved as dissatisfied, Appellant approached the Commission with the instant Second Appeal.
Facts emerging in Course of Hearing:
In order to ensure social distancing and prevent the spread of the pandemic, COVID-19, audio hearings were scheduled after giving prior notice to both the parties.
The Appellant participated in the hearing on being contacted on his telephone.
He stated that he is not satisfied with the information received from the Respondent public authority.
Respondent is represented by Shri Anil Dwivedi, PIO/HoS/Principal, Rajkiya Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya present through audio conference. He submitted that information as available has been provided to the Appellant. He further submitted that he will abide by the orders of the Commission, if any in the matter.
Decision:
Upon perusal of facts on record and on the basis of the proceedings during hearing, Commission observes that available information has been provided by the Respondent public authority.
In view of the above, Commission does not find any scope for further intervention in the instant matter.
With the aforesaid observations/directions, all the four Second Appeals are disposed off accordingly.
Y. K. Sinha
Information Commissioner
Citation: Shri Naresh Yadav v. Principal (HoS), Rajkiya Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya and PIO, Directorate of Education, Delhi in Second Appeal Nos. CIC/DIRED/A/2018/145056, CIC/DIRED/A/2019/117416, CIC/DIRED/A/2019/134054, CIC/DIRED/A/2019/138045, Date of Decision: 12.06.2020