Seeking voluminous information through a single RTI application
16 Aug, 2012Background
The appellant sought wide-ranging information such as, policy about departmental awards, transfer details of various personnel, profile of residential accommodation occupied by bank staff, and more. He cited 15 letters and sought about the route taken for processing them. He also wanted to know the facilities provided by the Bank in the event of any official being injured. The Public Information Officer (PIO) denied the information citing sections 7, 8 and 9 of the RTI Act. The First Appellate Authority (FAA) rejected the appeal, stating that the requester had sought voluminous information which was not held or maintained in the form and would divert the resources of the Bank disproportionately thereby attracting section 7(9) An information shall ordinarily be provided in the form in which it is sought unless it would disproportionately divert the resources of the public authority or would be detrimental to the safety or preservation of the record in question. of the RTI Act.
View of CIC
The Central Information Commission (CIC) agreed with the decision of FAA. However, the Commission directed the PIO to provide the information related to facilities admissible to the bank officers and staff members in the event of anyone undergoing medical treatment on account of an incident.
Citation: Shri Arun Kumar Maheshwari v. State Bank of India in Decision No.CIC/SM/A/2011/002080/VS/00032
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2012/CIC/575
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