Respondent: Appellant’s OMR sheet will be provided upon finalisation of the result; She may file a fresh RTI application for it - CIC: Such practice by DSSB is not acceptable; It causes unnecessary hardship to the information seeker & violates the RTI Act
24 Feb, 2020Information sought and background of the case:
Appellant filed RTI application dated 04.09.2018 seeking information regarding exam conducted by DSSSB under the Directorate of Education for the post of PGT (Urdu), and sought information on the following 3 points:
1. Kindly provide me the Final Answer Key used by DSSSB for evaluating my OMR sheet (According to my Question Booklet Series).
2. Kindly provide me the copy of my filled OMR Sheet (Both Side fur both the exams100 Marks and 200 Marks).
3. List of the all candidates along with their marks secured in the said exam.
Having not received any reply from the PIO, Appellant filed First Appeal dated 05.10.2018 which was not adjudicated therefore Appellant approached the Commission with the instant Second Appeal.
Facts emerging in Course of Hearing:
Both parties are present for hearing. Respondent has placed a submission dated 13.02.2020 on record during the course of hearing and informed the Commission that in response to the RTI application, final answer keys had been provided to the appellant through OARS portal, information against query number 3 was denied as third party information and appellant was informed in response to her query number 2, that her OMR sheet will be provided upon finalisation of the result and appellant was advised to file a fresh RTI application to obtain the same.
Decision:
Upon hearing arguments of both parties and examining the relevant records of the case, the Commission notes that reply of the PIO is inappropriate on the point 2, particularly because the Appellant has been asked to file fresh RTI application for seeking copy of her own OMR sheet. Such practice by the respondent is not acceptable and causes unnecessary hardship to the information seeker by obstructing access to information and violating provisions of the RTI Act. The reply by the PIO is set aside on this count. The Commission directs the PIO, DSSSB to furnish copy of OMR sheet to the appellant, within two weeks of receipt of this order in the light of an earlier decision dated 06.02.2020 passed by this Bench in the case of Jagdish Maurya. Compliance report must be submitted by the respondent before the Commission by 11.03.2020, failing which appropriate penal action shall be initiated as per law.
The appeal is disposed off with the above directions.
Y. K. Sinha
Information Commissioner
Citation: Smt. Sajida v. PIO, DSSSB, Karkardooma, Delhi in Second Appeal No. CIC/DSSSB/A/2018/173782, Date of Decision: 14.02.2020