Information regarding the officials of a bank who were compulsorily retired was denied u/s 8 (1) (j) – CIC: compulsory retirement is a punishment imposed on officials as a result of disciplinary proceedings; Denial of third party information upheld
2 Oct, 2015Order
This matter, pertaining to an RTI application dated 29.11.2013 filed by the Appellant, seeking information regarding the officials of the Aligarh branches of the bank, who were compulsorily retired or took voluntary retirement during the period January 2003 to December 2005, came up today. The information was denied by the Respondents under Section 8 (1) (j) of the RTI Act. The Appellant questioned the above decision of the Respondents. He alleged irregularities in the functioning of the Respondent Bank and stated that disclosure of the information sought by him is also a matter of larger public interest.
2. We have considered the records and the submissions made by both the parties before us. It is noted that compulsory retirement is a punishment imposed on officials as a result of disciplinary proceedings. In the light of the Supreme Court judgment dated 3.10.2012 in Girish Ramchandra Deshpande vs. Central Information Commissioner & Ors. [Special Leave Petition (Civil) No. 27734 of 2012], information concerning disciplinary action against third party officials is exempted from disclosure in the absence of a finding of larger public interest. Further, the information concerning those who obtained voluntary retirement is also their personal information. It is noted that the Appellant has sought the name and designation of those who were compulsorily retired and the reasons for the same. No larger public interest has been established by him for disclosure of the information sought by him. His allegation regarding irregularities in the functioning of the bank cannot become the ground of larger public interest. In view of the foregoing, we uphold the decision of the Respondents to deny the information under Section 8 (1) (j) in this case.
3. With the above observations, the appeal is disposed of.
4. Copies of this order be given free of cost to the parties.
(Sharat Sabharwal)
Information Commissioner
Citation: Shri Shivkant Bajpai v. Canara Bank in File No. CIC/SH/A/2014/001485