Non- compliance of the orders issued under the RTI Act by CIC

Background

The appellant sought information regarding a vigilance case which had appeared in Annual Report of CVO of Bank of Maharashtra. The Public Information Officer (PIO) denied the information 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. 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. stating that the sought information relates to the personal information and bank account of another person, which has no relationship to any public activity or interest and the disclosure of it would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual. The PIO further justified the denial submitting that disclosing the information would disclose the Bank accounts of some other customers of the Bank which is held in the fiduciary relationship by the Bank [claiming exemption under section 8(1)(e) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information available to a person in his fiduciary relationship, unless the competent authority is satisfied that the larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; ] and that a Police investigation is ongoing and hence disclosing the information may affect the investigation [claiming exemption under section 8(1)(h) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders; ].

The Central Information Commission did not accept the plea of exemption 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. 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. stating that those who are public servants cannot claim exemption from disclosure of charges against them or details of their assets which are routinely collected by the Public Authority and routinely provided by the Public servants. The disclosure of this cannot be construed as an invasion on the privacy of an individual. The Commission also rejected the claim for exemption under section 8(1)(h) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders; stating that the PIO has not been able to show or justify how revealing the information could impede the process of investigation. The Commission directed the PIO to provide the sought information after severing the information (under section 10) relating to the Bank Customer’s accounts names and amounts noting that the same was held by the bank in fiduciary capacity and hence was exempt under section 8(1)(e) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information available to a person in his fiduciary relationship, unless the competent authority is satisfied that the larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; of the RTI Act.

The respondents made a representation requesting for reconsideration of the Commission’s order and claiming exemption under section 8(1)(h) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders; of the RTI Act. The appellant also approached the Commission alleging non-compliance of the Commission’s order. The Commission issued a notice to the respondents to show cause why penalty should not be imposed and disciplinary action not be recommended against them for defying the orders of the commission and failing to comply with the provisions of RTI Act, 2005. The Commission also observed that once a statutory order is given, all citizens have to obey or obtain a stay on such order by the manner prescribed in law and the only relief available is a writ before the appropriate forum. The PIO sent written submissions to the Commission explaining that the information had been sent to the appellant and requesting the Commission to condone the delay.

View of CIC

The Commission noted that it does not consider defiance of its orders as a legitimate exercise by a PIO. By sending a letter to the Commission asking for review, the PIO cannot escape the consequences of not following its order. It is evident that the information was sent only after receiving the show-cause notice of the Commission. The Commission levied a penalty of Rs. 17,000/- on the PIO for delaying the disclosure of information by 68 days.

Comments

This order raises the issue of the re-consideration or review of the orders by the CIC. Though the RTI Act does not explicitly provide for the power of review by the CIC, it has been held that the CIC may review its own orders in certain cases. This order also raises the crucial issue of ‘privacy’ in the context of RTI Act. With different benches of the CIC taking a divergent view on the subject, the confusion in the matter is being compounded.

Citation: Mr. Vivek Sheel v. Bank of Maharashtra in File No.     CIC/SG/A/2011/002890/16554