RTI application was filed to know the action taken on the complaint filed by the appellant - CIC: The UGC should give a categorical reply as to how the complaint was dealt with; Take assistance u/s 5(4) from the concerned section & provide complete detail
19 Feb, 2020Information Sought:
The appellant has sought copy of the action taken report on his letter dated 03/01/2018.
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 had filed a complaint against Vaish College to UGC on 03.01.2018 to which no correspondence was made to him. Accordingly he had filed a RTI application to know the action taken on the above complaint, and that too was not provided by the UGC and some irrelevant reply was given.
On a query by the Commission the CPIO’s representative submitted that the then CPIO was Shri G.S Aulakh, Under Secretary. He further submitted that the said complaint was related to the College and hence they had forwarded the same to the college vide letter dated 17.04.2018.
The SPIO, Vaish College submitted that they are a State public authority and an apt reply was provided by them on 28.05.2018 to UGC. She further read the contents of the reply, and clarified that the letter dated 17.04.2018 was not a transfer of RTI application u/s 6(3) but the said complaint dated 03.01.2018 was forwarded and an apt reply was given to the UGC stating that this is only a complaint and not information under the RTI Act.
Observations:
Based on a perusal of the record, it was noted that the then CPIO Shri G.S Aulakh, Under Secretary grossly erred in not providing an apt reply relating to action taken on the complaint dated 03.01.2018. The CPIO should note that under the RTI Act they need not take action on a complaint but whatever action was already taken that includes forwarding of the concerned complaint or disposal of the complaint. The then FAA, Smt. Sarita Makhija also failed to pass a speaking order.
Decision:
In view of the above observations, it is relevant to mention here that the concerned college is not the holder of information. The complaint was filed to UGC on 03.01.2018 and the UGC should give a categorical reply as to how the complaint was dealt with, in case the same was forwarded to the College for comments, the decision making authority on the said complaint is UGC. It is strange that the usual course of dealing with the complaint was not known to the then CPIO or the FAA, and they treated the present RTI application as a complaint. Be that as it may, the CPIO UGC shall take assistance u/s 5(4) from the concerned section and provide complete details relating to action taken on the said complaint dated 03.01.2018 or in case no action was taken on the said complaint the same should be conveyed to the appellant, within 15 days from the date of receipt of the order.
The appeal is disposed of accordingly.
Vanaja N. Sarna
Information Commissioner
Citation: Omprakash Parmar v. CPIO, North Region College Bureau, University Grants Commission and SPIO, Vaish College, Railway Road, Bhiwani in Decision no.: CIC/UGCOM/A/2018/148895/02680, Date of Decision: 22/01/2020