Information about pay scale PGT teachers working with Universal Public School - Appellant: Documents provided to him are not attested or certified by the PIO - CIC: Respondent to provide certified copies of relevant information free of charge to Appellant
22 Sep, 2025Information sought:
1. The Appellant filed an (offline) RTI application dated 16.10.2023 seeking the following information:
“A. Applicant require information with respect to PRT/TGT/PGT teachers working with Universal Public School, A Block. Preet Vihar, Delhi 110092 as under:-
(a) Whether the pay scale granted to aforesaid teachers is at par with the teachers working in Delhi Government School? If no, then reasons for the same?
(b) How much percentage of Basic Pay is paid to aforesaid teachers by the school towards Dearness Allowance /House Rent Allowance/Travelling Allowance as on date?
(c) Whether the school is granting all benefits to aforesaid teachers as per the recommendations of 7th Pay Commission? If yes, then as on date what is the status of arrears of pay which the aforesaid teachers are entitled as per the said recommendations?”
2. The CPIO furnished a reply to the Appellant on 08.11.2023 stating as under:
“Reply No. 1 (a) As per DOE guidelines.
Reply No. 1 (b) Same as reply no.1.
Reply No. 1 (c) No such information is available in this office.”
3. Being dissatisfied, the appellant filed a First Appeal dated 07.12.2023. The FAA vide its order dated 11.01.2024, held as under.
“On perusal of relevant record made available, it is revealed therefrom that the reply provided by the PIO is not correct/complete/pointwise. Accordingly, the PIO is hereby directed to provide the revised reply to the appellant as per the provisions of the RTI Act. 2005 within 10 days of receipt of this letter. Accordingly, the appeal stands disposed of with the above directions.”
4. In compliance of FAA’s order the PIO furnished a revised reply dated 05.01.2024 to the appellant as under:
“Kindly refer to order No.DE.3/RTI/FAA/2023/49-50 dated 01/01/2024 on the subject stated above. The revised reply in r/o above stated RTI is as followsReply No. I (a) & Reply No. I (b) Pvt. recognized schools submit certain documents under section 180(1) of DSEAR 1973 to office of the u/s. As per the documents available, the information sought by the applicant is attached at Annexure I for his ready reference. Reply No. I (c) No such information is available in this office.”
5. Feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied, appellant approached the Commission with the instant Second Appeal.
6. A written submission dated 02.08.2025 filed by the Appellant is taken on record. Contents of the same are reproduced below for reference:
“Background of the RTI Application That I had submitted an RTI application dated 16.10.2023 bearing ID No. 243(E)/2023/3132 seeking information under Section 6 of the Right to Information Act, 2005, regarding employment benefits and pay structure of teachers (PRT/TGT/PGT) working at Universal Public School, A Block, Preet Vihar, Delhi – 110092. The specific queries raised were:
• (a) Whether the pay scale granted to teachers is at par with that of Delhi Government school teachers. If not, the reasons therefor.
• (b) Details of percentage of Basic Pay paid as DA, HRA, and TA.
• (c) Whether the school is granting all benefits to aforesaid teachers as per the recommendations of 7th Pay Commission? If yes, then as of date what is the status of arrears of pay which the aforesaid teachers are entitled as per the said recommendations?
1. Initial and Revised Responses Received
The PIO responded via letter dated 08.11.2023 (No. DDE/Zone II/RTI ID No. 243(E)/2023/3132). Nothing was given but evasive reply.
2. In the second reply dated 05.01.2024 (No. DDE/Zone II/RTI ID No. 243(E)/2023/52-53) documents filed under rule 180 of DSEAR – 1973 staff details and bank details for July 2023-2024 but this information was also evasive since there was no information given regarding proper dearness allowance/ house rent allowance and training allowance. However, it was clearly mentioned under Reply No. 1c: “No such information is available in this office.” And the most important thing is that these documents are not duly attested by concerned PIO. This is vague, incomplete, and defeats the purpose of the RTI Act.
3. Concerns and Grounds for This Appeal That despite the PIO’s acknowledgment of receiving data under Section 180(1) of DSEAR, 1973, the reply fails to:
• Clarify whether benefits such as DA, HRA, and TA are being paid per norms.
• Specify whether 7th CPC recommendations and arrears of 7th CPC are being implemented.
• Categorically comment on pay parity with Government school teachers. The reply is generic and unresponsible, since recognized private unaided schools fall under the purview of public authority under Section 2(h)
“public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted
(a) by or under the Constitution;
(b) by any other law made by Parliament;
(c) by any other law made by State Legislature;
(d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any-
(i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed;
(ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government;
“public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted
(a) by or under the Constitution;
(b) by any other law made by Parliament;
(c) by any other law made by State Legislature;
(d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any-
(i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed;
(ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government;
of the RTI Act, especially when they function under the regulatory framework of the Directorate and operate on government allocated land at concessional rates.
4. Legal Grounds for Relief
• Section 2(f)
“information” means any material in any form, including records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force;
and 2(j)
“right to information” means the right to information accessible under this Act which is held by or under the control of any public authority and includes the right to-
(i) inspection of work, documents, records;
(ii) taking notes, extracts or certified copies of documents or records;
(iii) taking certified samples of material;
(iv) obtaining information in the form of diskettes, floppies, tapes, video cassettes or in any other electronic mode or through printouts where such information is stored in a computer or in any other device;
– Defines “information” and “right to information” to include such employment benefit details.
• Section 2(h)
“public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted
(a) by or under the Constitution;
(b) by any other law made by Parliament;
(c) by any other law made by State Legislature;
(d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any-
(i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed;
(ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government;
“public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted
(a) by or under the Constitution;
(b) by any other law made by Parliament;
(c) by any other law made by State Legislature;
(d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any-
(i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed;
(ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government;
– Recognized private unaided schools are public authorities under judicial interpretation (Delhi Abhibhavak Mahasangh v. UOI).
• Section 6(3) – Mandates transfer of the RTI application if the information is held by another authority, i.e., the school.
• Section 7(1)
Subject to the proviso to sub-section (2) of section 5 or the proviso to subsection (3) of section 6, the Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer, as the case may be, on receipt of a request under section 6 shall, as expeditiously as possible, and in any case within thirty days of the receipt of the request, either provide the information on payment of such fee as may be prescribed or reject the request for any of the reasons specified in sections 8 and 9:
– Obligates complete and reasoned response to RTI queries within the stipulated period.
• Section 180(1) of DSEAR, 1973 – Recognized private schools are duty-bound to submit detailed staff data including salary and benefits to the Directorate annually. Despite this legal framework:
• The PIO has failed to either provide a direct response or transfer the query to the concerned school management.
• The PIO’s justification of “information not available” is in clear violation of Section 6(3) and indicative of administrative lapse.
5. Prayer for Relief In view of the foregoing facts and provisions, I humbly request the Hon’ble Commission to:
1. Direct the PIO to provide specific replies to each RTI question, especially with regard to:
• Pay parity with Government school teachers;
• Percentage and disbursal of DA/HRA/TA;
• Status of 7th Pay Commission implementation with arrear.
2. Instruct the PIO to invoke Section 6(3) and obtain the required data from the school management from teacher’s service book if it is not directly held by the Directorate.
3. Initiate necessary proceedings under Section 20 of the RTI Act for providing incomplete, evasive, and misleading responses and for failure to transfer the application in a timely manner.
Relevant Facts emerged during Hearing:
The following were present:-
Appellant: Present in person
Respondent: Shri Pankaj, Principal, DDE, Zone 02 along with Shri Shubham Kumar, TGT, DDE Zone- 02, GNCTD Delhi present in person.
7. Proof of having served a copy of Second Appeal on respondent while filing the same in CIC on 12.03.2024 is not available on record. The Respondent confirms non-service.
8. The Appellant, during hearing, restricted his arguments to the fact that the documents/ information provided to him are not attested or certified by the PIO.
9. The Respondent stated that although information as is available on records has been provided to the Appellant, still if the Appellant is not satisfied, he volunteered to provide certified true copy of relevant documents so provided to the Appellant.
Decision:
10. In furtherance of hearing proceedings, the Respondent is directed to provide certified copies of relevant information as given to the Appellant in response to this RTI application. This information be provided free of charge to the Appellant within one week of date of receipt of this order and a compliance report to this effect be sent to the Commission, immediately thereafter.
11. FAA to ensure compliance of the directions.
The appeal is dismissed accordingly.
Vinod Kumar Tiwari
Information Commissioner
Citation: Khagesh Chandra Joshi v. Directorate of Education in File No: CIC/DIRED/A/2024/108070; Date of Decision : 25.08.2025