Maintenance of record copy of newspaper by RNI - Appellant: PIO has provided a false and misleading reply; Quoted Rule 5 of Reg. of Newspaper (Central) Rules, 1956 - CIC: PIO to place this order before their competent authority to look into the allegation
7 Jun, 2023Details of the newspapers maintained by the Registrar of Newspapers of India (RNI) as a record copy and related information was sought - PIO: The details of newspapers received in RNI as per section 11(B) of PRB Act, 1867 is updated on regularity portal on RNI website and RNI does not maintain copy(s) of newspapers - Appellant: PIO has provided a false and misleading reply; Quoted Rule 5 of the Registration of Newspaper (Central) Rules, 1956 - CIC: PIO has reaffirmed the factual position of not maintaining copy of newspapers and within the confines of the RTI Act; Action or inaction of RNI in not maintaining the said record cannot warrant any punitive action against the PIO under the RTI Act - CIC: PIO is directed to place this order before their competent authority to look into the allegations of the Appellant in consonance with the extant rules governing RNI
Information sought:
The Appellant filed an RTI application dated 21.09.2021 seeking the following information:
“FORM
- PIO to state if the newspapers maintained by the RNI AS A RECORD COPY OR ANY OTHER COPY WITH THE RNI (REGISTRAR OF NEWSPAPERS OF INDIA), for the year 2016, are in print format only or also maintained, in micro film or electronic format
- PIO to state the name and editions of the newspapers maintained by the RNI FOR RECORD OR OTHER PURPOSES, for the year 2016, which are in micro film or electronic format
PDF Copies
- PIO to state the period from which the pdf or e-pdf copies of the newspapers of Dainik Tribune, Jansatta, Rajasthan Patrika, The Pioneer, The Telegraph and Rashtriya Sahara are maintained by the RNI FOR RECORD OR OTHER PURPOSES (id.est., from March 2012 or later etc.)
- PIO to state the period from which the pdf or e-pdf copies of the following newspapers are maintained by the RNI FOR RECORD OR OTHER PURPOSES (id.est., from March 2012 or later etc.)
Hindi
o Amar Ujala
o Dainik Bhaskar
o Dainik Jagran (Kanpur)
o Dainik Jagran (Delhi)
o Deshbandhu
o Hindustan
o Punjab Kesari (Panipat)
o Punjab Kesari (Delhi)
English
o Business Standard
o Economic Times
o Hindustan Times
o Indian Express
o Indian Express (Chandigarh)
o Indian Express (Chennai)
o Lokmat Times
o New Indian Express (English)
o Times of India (Delhi)
o Times of India (Mumbai)
o Times of India (Ahmedabad)
Others
Ananda Bazar Patrika (Bengali)
o Lokmat(Marathi)
o Maharashtra Times (Marathi)
o Mathrubhoomi (Malyalam)
o Sandesh (Gujrati)
o If the PIO feels that the above data is cumbersome, PIO to state if it has the above newspapers, from 1st January 2015 to 1st January 2018
Printed copies
PIO to state the period from which the printed copies of the following newspapers are maintained by the RNI FOR RECORD OR OTHER PURPOSES (id.est., from March 2012 or later etc.)
o Aaj (Marathi)
o Akhbar E Mashriq (Urdu)
o Amar Ujala (Hindi)
o Ananda Bazar Patrika (Bengali)
o Business Standard (English)
o Dainik Bhaskar (Hindi)
o Dainik Jagran (Kanpur)
o Dainik Jagran(Hindi)(Delhi)
o Deshbandhu (Hindi)
o Economic Times (English)
o Gujrat Samachar (Gujarati)
o Hindustan Times (English)
o Hindustan(Hindi)
o Indian Express (English) Chennai)
o Indian Express (English)(Chandigarh)
o Indian Express (English)
o Jansatta (Hindi)(Delhi)
o Lok Satta (Marathi)
o Lokmat Samachar (Marathi)
o Lokmat Times (Marathi)
o Lokmat (English)
o Maharashtra Times (Marathi)
o Mathrubhoomi (Malyalam)
o Navbharat Times (Hindi)(Delhi)
o Navshakti (Marathi)
o New Indian Express
o Punjab Kesari (Hindi) (Panipat)
o Punjab Kesari (Hindi)(Delhi)
o Rajasthan Patrika (Hindi)
o Rashtriya Sahara(Hindi)
o Rashtriya Sahara (Urdu)
o Sandesh (Gujrati)
o Times of India (English) (Delhi)
o Times of India(English) (Mumbai)
o Times of India(English) (Ahmedabad)
o Tribune (Hindi)
o Tribune(English)(Delhi)
· If the PIO feels that the above data is cumbersome, PIO to state if it has the above newspapers, from 1st January 2015 to 1st January 2018
Inspection
· PIO to allow the applicant to inspect and photograph, the PHYSICAL PRINTED copies and E=PDF copies of the newspapers for the month of February 2016, and the 3rd week of October,2016, of the following newspapers
o Amar Ujala
o Dainik Bhaskar
o Deshbandhu
o Punjab Kesari (Panipat)
o Punjab Kesari (Delhi)
o Dainik Tribune
o Dainik Jagran (Kanpur)
o Dainik Jagran (Hindi)(Delhi)
o Deshbandhu (Hindi)
o Business Standard
o Economic Times
o Indian Express
o Indian Express (Chandigarh)
o Lokmat Times
o New Indian Express (English)
o Times of India (Delhi)
o Times of India (Mumbai)
o Times of India (Ahmedabad)
o Dainik Tribune
o Ananda Bazar Patrika (Bengali)
o Lokmat(Marathi)
o Maharashtra Times (Marathi)
o Mathrubhoomi (Malyalam)
o Sandesh (Gujrati)
o Hindustan Times (English)
o Hindustan(Hindi)
o Indian Express (English) Chennai)
o Indian Express (English)(Chandigarh)
o Indian Express(English)
o Jansatta(Hindi)(Delhi)
o Lok Satta (Marathi)
o Mathrubhoomi (Malyalam)
o Navbharat Times (Hindi)(Delhi)
o Rajasthan Patrika (Hindi)
o Rashtriya Sahara(Hindi)
o Rashtriya Sahara(Urdu)
o Times of India (English) (Delhi)
o Times of India(English) (Mumbai)
o Times of India(English) (Ahmedabad)
o Tribune (Hindi)
o Tribune(English)(Delhi)
o The Pioneer”
The CPIO furnished a reply to the appellant on 28.10.2021 stating as under :
4.1 No record for the year pertaining to 2008 is available with RNI.
5.1 RNI does not maintain record of newspapers.
Being dissatisfied, the appellant filed a First Appeal dated 06.11.2021 stating inter alia as under:
“8.2.1.1. The CAPIO states that it maintains no record of newspapers. THIS IS A FALSE REPLY
8.2.1.2. As per Rule 5 of the The Registration of Newspaper (Central) Rules, 1956, as under,1 copy of the NEWSPAPER IS SENT TO THE PRESS REGISTRAR :
RULE 5. Delivery of copies of newspaper to the Press Registrar.—
(1) Every publisher shall within 48 hours of the publication of an issue of his newspaper, send to the Press Registrar one copy of the issue by post or by a messenger: Provided that where any newspaper publishes more than one edition under the same declaration and the retail selling price charged for, or the number of pages contained in, an issue of any such edition is different from an issue of any other edition, one copy of the issue of each such edition shall also in like manner be sent to the Press Registrar.
(2) For the purposes of sub-rule (1) (a) copies of the issues of newspapers published in Hindi, Urdu or English and of newspapers published in two languages, one of which is Hindi, Urdu or English, shall be sent to the Press Registrar in 1[Simla];
(b) copies of the issues of newspapers published in any of the regional languages specified in column I below shall be sent to the Officer incharge of the Regional Office of the Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, at the place specified in the corresponding entry in column II and the officer shall take delivery of such newspaper on behalf of the Press Registrar:— I II Punjabi Jullundur 2[Bengali Calcutta Oriya Cuttack Assamese Gauhati] 3[Tamil Madras Telugu Hyderabad] Malayalam 4[Trivandrum] Marathi Bombay Gujarati 5[Ahmedabad] Kannada Bangalore 6[Konkani Bombay Portuguese Bombay] 7[Kashmiri Srinagar]; (c) copies of the issues of newspapers published in any other language shall be sent to the Press Registrar in 3[Simla].
8.2.1.3. IS THE PRESS REGISTRAR NOT UNDER THE RNI? IS THE RNI CLAIMING THAT IT HAS NO RECORD OF NEWSPAPERS?
8.2.2. Ground of Appeal No.2– INFORMATION IS SOUGHT IN PUBLIC INTEREST
8.2.6.1. THE INFORMATION IS SOUGHT IN PUBLIC INTEREST TO ESNURE THE COMPLIANCE WITH THE RNI RULES
8.2.3. Ground of Appeal No.3 - RNI is not exempted from standards of oversight, transparency and accountability
8.2.3.1. In addition, the information is also sought in the public interest, to assess the integrity, competence, efficacy and effectiveness of the RNI and the political and other pressures that it possibly operates under.”
FAA’s order dated 04.01.2022, copy of which was submitted as link paper by the Appellant after the filing of the instant Second Appeal states as under:
The details of newspapers received in RNI as per section 11(B) of PRB Act, 1867 is updated on regularity portal on RNI website and the same is disposed of. RNI does not maintain copy(s) of newspapers.
Feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied, the appellant approached the Commission with the instant Second Appeal.
Relevant Facts emerging during Hearing:
The following were present:-
Appellant: Present through video conference.
Respondent: Nawal Kishore Prasad, CPIO & Registration Supervisor present through intra-video conference.
RNI maintains record of registration not record of newspapers.
The Appellant argued at length agitating that the CPIO has provided a false and misleading reply as per the above-mentioned grounds of First Appeal and further deemed the FAA’s order to be of no relevance to the grounds raised by him. Further, vide his written submissions filed prior to the hearing, the following key points were agitated upon:
“· FAA SAYS THAT NEWSPAPERS SUBMITTED TO RNI ARE UPDATED AT THE REGULARITY PORTAL OF RNI AND DISPOSED OFF
· THERE IS NO “REGULARITY PORTAL”
· THERE IS A RNI PORTAL – WHICH HAS NO LINK FOR NEWSPAPER SUBMISSIONS
· IN THE 1ST APPEAL THE APPELLANT HAD RAISED SECTION 5 OF THE REGISTRATION OF NEWSPAPER (CENTRAL) RULES, 1956, BUT THE FAA IS QUOTING SECTION 11 OF THE PRB ACT WHICH HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MATTER AND PROVES THE LIE AND MALAFIDE INTENT OF THE FAA
· THE PIO HAS ALSO STATED THAT NO RECORD OF THE 2008 NEWSPAPERS ARE MAINATINED BY THE RNI – BUT THAT IS NOT WHAT WAS ASKED – AND SO, PROVES THAT PIO IS LYING AND GIVING A MISLEADING REPLY
· HENCE, IT IS CLEAR THAT THE PIO AND FAA ARE MAKING A FALSE AND MISLEADING REPLY WITH MALAFIDE UINTENT AND NON-BONAFIDE REASONS”
The CPIO reaffirmed the reply provided to the Appellant and further explained that RNI is not the record holder of newspapers but is the record holder for registrations of the newspapers.
Decision:
The Commission based on a perusal of the facts on record observes at the outset that the nature of the RTI queries is not strictly conforming to 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; of the RTI Act as the Appellant is expressing conjecture and asking for conformation of speculative queries regarding the availability of copies of newspapers (of registered publications), to which the CPIO & FAA have provided factual clarifications. Now, through the First & Second Appeal, the Appellant is challenging the factual status informed to him and is deeming it as a false reply by relying on the provision of Rule 5 of the The Registration of Newspaper (Central) Rules, 1956 and seeks for penalty to be imposed on the CPIO.
The Commission is not inclined to initiate any penal action against the CPIO in the matter as the CPIO has reaffirmed the factual position of not maintaining copy of newspapers and within the confines of the RTI Act, the CPIO is supposed to provide only such information that is available/existing and not create any information, similarly, action or inaction of RNI in not maintaining the said record cannot warrant any punitive action against the CPIO under the RTI Act. Here, the Appellant is advised about the powers of the Commission under the RTI Act by relying on certain precedents of the superior Courts as under:
The Hon'ble High Court of Delhi in the matter of Hansi Rawat and Anr. v. Punjab National Bank and Ors. (LPA No.785/2012) dated 11.01.2013 has held as under:
"6. …. proceedings under the RTI Act cannot be converted into proceedings for adjudication of disputes as to the correctness of the information furnished."(Emphasis Supplied)
The aforesaid rationale finds resonance in another judgment of the Hon’ble Delhi High Court in the matter of Govt. of NCT of Delhi vs. Rajender Prasad (W.P.[C] 10676/2016) dated 30.11.2017 wherein it was held as under:
“6. The CIC has been constituted under Section 12 of the Act and the powers of CIC are delineated under the Act. The CIC being a statutory body has to act strictly within the confines of the Act and is neither required to nor has the jurisdiction to examine any other controversy or disputes.”
While, the Apex Court in the matter of Union of India vs Namit Sharma (Review Petition [C] No.2309 of 2012) dated 03.09.2013 observed as under:
“20. …While deciding whether a citizen should or should not get a particular information “which is held by or under the control of any public authority”, the Information Commission does not decide a dispute between two or more parties concerning their legal rights other than their right to get information in possession of a public authority….”
Nonetheless, the CPIO is directed to place this order before their competent authority to look into the allegations of the Appellant in consonance with the extant rules governing RNI.
The appeal is disposed of accordingly.
Saroj Punhani
Information Commissioner
Citation: Samir Sardana v. Office of the Registrar of Newspapers of India, CIC/RNIND/A/2021/662365; 27/04/2023