Information regarding a Technician like copy of his service book along with details of his nominee & marriage etc. was sought - CIC: The total emoluments of the employee should have been disclosed as part of suo-motu disclosure u/s 4(1)(b)(x) of RTI Act
27 Feb, 2019Information sought:
The Appellant sought information regarding Mohammed Yahya working as Technician - III in C & W Mechanical, SCR in terms of copy of his pay slip for the month of April, 2016, copy of his service book along with details of his nominee and marriage, whether he has disclosed any details of criminal cases registered against him etc.
Grounds for the Second Appeal:
The CPIO has not provided the desired information.
Relevant Facts emerging during Hearing:
The following were present:-
Appellant: Present through VC.
Respondent (1): Not present.
Respondent (2): Laxman Rao, Workshop Personnel Officer & APIO, O/o South Central Railway, Chief Workshop Manager’s Office, Secunderabad present through VC.
Appellant stated that she is pursuing her alimony case against her estranged husband and wants to know the details of his salary emoluments.
Respondent (2) submitted that information sought has been denied 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 as the third party refused to give his consent to disclose the information sought in the RTI Application.
Decision
Commission observes that although no infirmity lies in the CPIO reply, however, the total emoluments of the concerned railway employee under reference should have been disclosed as part of suo-motu disclosure under Section 4(1)(b)(x) of the RTI Act. In view of this, Respondent No. 2 is directed to provide the total emoluments of the concerned railway employee for the month of April 2016 to the Appellant free of cost within 15 days of receipt of this order. A compliance report to this effect shall be duly sent by Respondent No.2 to the Commission.
The appeal is disposed of accordingly.
Divya Prakash Sinha
Information Commissioner
Citation: Noorjahan Begum v. CPIO Secy. to CPO APIO/per./Hqrs. South Central Railway; CPIO APIO/Workshop Personnel Officer South Central Railway, Chief Workshop Manager’s Office, Carriage Workshop, Personnel Branch in File No : CIC/SCRLS/A/2017/112395/SD, Date of Decision : 07/01/2019