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Bhaskar Jyothi vs Southern Railway on 1 October, 2021

                                                       CIC/SORLY/A/2019/150572

                                  के   ीय सूचना आयोग
                       Central Information Commission
                            बाबा गंगनाथ माग,मुिनरका
                        Baba Gangnath Marg, Munirka
                          नई द ली, New Delhi - 110067


ि तीय अपील सं या/ Second Appeal No. CIC/SORLY/A/2019/150572

In the matter of:

Bhaskar Jyothi                                                 ... अपीलकता/Appellant
                                        VERSUS
                                         बनाम

CPIO,                                                      ... ितवादीगण /Respondent
/Divisional Personnel Officer,
Southern Railway,
Railway Divisional Office,
Personnel Branch,
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

Relevant dates emerging from the appeal:

RTI Application filed on                   :   Not on record
CPIO replied on                            :   25.07.2019
First Appeal filed on                      :   16.08.2019
First Appellate Authority order            :   17.09.2019
Second Appeal received on                  :   21.10.2019
Date of Hearing                            :   23.09.2021




                                                                          Page 1 of 10
                                                           CIC/SORLY/A/2019/150572

The following were present:

Appellant: Shri Bhaskar Jyothi and Shri Anil Kumar, representative of the
Appellant participated in the hearing through video conferencing from NIC
Kollam.

Respondent: Shri Syed Sirajuddin, APIO and Asst. Personnel Officer, Southern
Railway participated in the hearing through video conferencing from NIC
Thiruvananthapuram.


                                         ORDER

Information sought:

The Appellant while submitting the instant Second Appeal has not enclosed a copy of the RTI Application dated 15.06.2019 (date of RTI Application is decipherable from CPIO's reply dated 25.07.2019).

Shri Vipin Saini, CPIO & DPO, Railway Divisional Office, Personnel Branch, Thiruvananthapuram vide letter dated 25.07.2019, informed the Appellant as under:

"I am to refer to your Request for Information under RTI Act 2005, received vide letter dated 15/06/2019 and the item wise information is furnished below.

1. The copy of the reply issued from this office to your representation is enclosed.

2. Last pay not revised with addition of increments.

3. Basic pension not revised with addition of increments.

4. No arrears payable."

Being dissatisfied, the Appellant filed a First Appeal dated 16.08.2019. The First Appellate Authority vide order dated 17.09.2019, informed as under:

"Remarks to appeal by PIO& DPO/TVC The information as available in document form as per section 2.f is Letter No.V/P.524/PG/2019 dt. 25.7.2019 is provided. As per this your representation for granting two increments for 2014 and 2015 were not agreed. As such refixation of pay, revision of pension or payment of arrears question does not arise. The Page 2 of 10 CIC/SORLY/A/2019/150572 amount of pension in PPO already issued to you holds good. However the details are attached.

Orders of RTI First Appellate Authority &ADRM/TVC As per the remarks of PIO above, the sought information as available in document form is provided completely by PIO as per section 2.f of RTI Act.

RTI is not the forum to correct mistakes in documents supplied by the public authority; as demanded by the applicant. The information available as such in material form held by PIO only can be provided and further questions on the information supplied will not come under the purview of RTI act and appeal."

Grounds for Second Appeal:

The Appellant filed a Second Appeal u/s 19 of the Act and has requested the Commission to direct the CPIO and First Appellate Authority to provide proper and correct information.

Submissions made by Appellant and Respondent during Hearing:

At the outset, the Commission queried the Appellant as to on what date the RTI Application was filed, the Appellant and his representative failed to provide a cogent reply. The representative of the Appellant stated that the Respondent has not provided any reply to the Appellant till date. Upon further queried by the Commission as to what information was sought in the RTI Application, the representative of the Appellant explained that the Appellant's issue is pertaining to pay re-fixation upon adding due increments, which has not been done by the Respondent till date. He further reiterated the contents of the Appellant's representation dated 09.04.2019 addressed to the Addl. Divisional Railway Manager, Railway Division Office, Thycaud P.O., Thiruvananthapuram.

The Respondent reiterated the contents of the written submission dated 14.09.2021. Upon queried by the Commission as to on what date the Appellant has filed the Page 3 of 10 CIC/SORLY/A/2019/150572 RTI Application, he replied that the Appellant has filed the RTI Application on 15.06.2019.

The Commission orally directed the Respondent to upload a copy of the RTI Application dated 15.06.2019.

A written submission has been received by the Commission from the Appellant, wherein he has informed the Commission as under:

CIC/SORLY/A/2019/150572 A written submission has been received by the Commission from Shri Siddharth K. Varma, CPIO and Divisional Personnel Officer, Southern Railway, Thiruvananthapuram vide letter dated 14.09.2021, wherein he has apprised the Commission as under:

CIC/SORLY/A/2019/150572 Page 6 of 10 CIC/SORLY/A/2019/150572 Page 7 of 10 CIC/SORLY/A/2019/150572 Decision:

The Commission has received a copy of the RTI Application dated 15.06.2019 from the Respondent upon conclusion of the instant hearing. The screenshot/snapshot of the RTI Application is as under:

CIC/SORLY/A/2019/150572 Upon perusal of the facts on record as well as on the basis of the proceedings during the hearing, the Commission observes that the Respondent vide reply dated 25.07.2019 has provided a satisfactory reply to the Appellant. Further, the Commission also observes that the Respondent vide their written submission dated 14.09.2021 has provided adequate explanation. The Commission notes that the Appellant is harping to redress his grievance pertaining to his pay re-fixation after adding due increments, which is beyond the adjudicatory powers of the Commission. As far as the information sought in the RTI Application dated 15.06.2019 is concerned, the Respondent has provided sufficient information to the Appellant and the same is being upheld. The Commission finds no further scope of intervention in the instant matter.

With the above observations, the instant Second Appeal is disposed of. Copy of the decision be provided free of cost to the parties.

The Appeal, hereby, stands disposed of.

Amita Pandove(अिमता पांडव) Information Commissioner(सूचना आयु ) दनांक / Date: 01.10.2021 Authenticated true copy (अिभ मािणत स यािपत ित) B. S. Kasana (बी. एस. कसाना) Dy. Registrar (उप-पंजीयक) 011-26105027 Page 9 of 10 CIC/SORLY/A/2019/150572 Addresses of the parties:

1. The First Appellate Authority (FAA) ADRM, Southern Railway, Divisional Head Quarters, Thiruvananthapuram Division, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala-695014

2. The Central Public Information Officer /Divisional Personnel Officer, Southern Railway,Railway Divisional Office, Personnel Branch, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

3. Shri Bhaskar Jyothi Page 10 of 10