Monad (private) University was unable to provide the information due to destruction of records in a fire incident which is substantiated by the FIR lodged - CIC: PIO shall make an effort to trace the records & provide any additional relevant information
20 Jan, 2020Information Sought:
The appellant has sought the following information:
1. Provide the year wise results of Kavita Uniyal (Ahmedabad) and Sunita Rani (Hapur) students of MA Economics, for the year 2010-11 and 2011-12.
2. Details of the attendance records of Kavita Uniyal (Roll No. 401741 & 601829) and Sunita Rani (Roll No. 567543 & 642846).
3. Details of the year wise fees deposited by both the students.
4. And other related information.
Grounds for Second Appeal
The CPIO did not provide the desired information.
Submissions made by Appellant and Respondent during Hearing:
The appellant submitted that he is not satisfied with the reply received from the respondents. Shri Amit Choudhary, Assistant Professor, Monad University submitted that an appropriate reply was sent to the appellant on 21.06.2018 stating that details of the student is not given so information could not be given. He further submitted that a revised reply was also sent to the appellant on 29.11.2019. The appellant contended that points no. 2 to 4 of the RTI application was not replied to properly. He contested the issue of the fire accident claimed by Monad University in their recent reply.
Shri Amit Choudhary submitted that a FIR was lodged regarding the destruction of records due to a fire accident on 21.07.2015. He also submitted that any additional information if available on record shall be given to the appellant. The CPIO UGC submitted that the OSD of Calorx Teacher’s University had replied to the RTI application vide letter dated 03.04.2018, in which it was stated that they are a private university and do not come within the purview of the RTI Act. They are not a “public authority” as contemplated by Sec 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; of the RTI Act. On a query by the Commission she further submitted that the RTI application was transferred to both the Universities on 17.03.2018 as the information sought was pertaining to them.
Observations:
Based on a perusal of the record, it is noted that Monad University has not denied the information; rather, they are unable to provide the same due to destruction of records in a fire incident. Moreover, the FIR lodged regarding destruction of records substantiates the respondent’s claim. However, as additional information can be given as per the available records, as stated by the representative of the university during the hearing, The PIO Monad University shall make an effort to trace the records and provide any additional information relevant to the appellant.
Decision:
In view of the above discussion, the PIO Monad University is directed to provide an additional reply within 15 days from the date of receipt of the order, specifying any further information, if traceable.
The appeal is disposed of accordingly.
Vanaja N. Sarna
Information Commissioner
Citation: Rajendra Prasad (Baliyan) v. CPIO, University Grants Commission and Monad University, Kastla and Calrox Teacher’s University in Decision no.: CIC/UGCOM/A/2018/137519/02278, Date of Decision: 05/12/2019