Central Information Commission
Arun Kumar Prasad vs Bharat Coking Coal Limited. on 26 June, 2019
के न्द्रीय सूचना आयोग
Central Information Commission
बाबा गंगनाथ मागग, मुननरका
Baba Gangnath Marg, Munirka
नई दिल्ली, New Delhi - 110067
नितीय अपील संख्या / Second Appeal No. CIC/NCCLD/A/2018/108196
Arun Kr. Prasad ... अपीलकताग/Appellant
VERSUS
बनाम
CPIO, Bharat Coking Coal ...प्रनतवािीगण /Respondents
Limited, Koyla Nagar, Dhanbad.
Relevant dates emerging from the appeal:
RTI : 30.10.2017 FA : 02.12.2017 SA : 02.02.2018
CPIO : No Reply FAO : No Order Hearing : 24.06.2019
ORDER
1. The appellant filed an application under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) before the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), Koyla Nagar, Dhanbad seeking information on three points pertaining to pending civil/criminal cases, relating to mining against BCCL, including, inter-alia, (i) the details of pending court cases at Dhanbad Court in which BCCL is involved along with the name of the Advocate, and (ii) details of the cases Page 1 of 5 which have been dismissed against BCCL under The Chotanagpur Tenancy (CNT) Act, 1908 in which ownership/title of the land in favor of BCCL is in dispute.
2. The appellant filed a second appeal before the Commission on the grounds that no information/reply has been furnished to him till date by the CPIO. Moreover, the FAA did not adjudicate upon the first appeal filed by him. The appellant requested the Commission to direct the CPIO to provide him the desired information.
Hearing:
3. The appellant Shri Arun Kr. Prasad and the respondent Shri M. Birua, Chief Manager (Pers.) and CPIO and Shri Santosh Kumar Singh, GM (Law), BCCL, Koyla Bhawan, Koyla Nagar, Dhanbad attended the hearing through video-conferencing.
4. The appellant submitted that no information/reply has been furnished to him, in response to his RTI application, till date. He, therefore, requested the Commission to take necessary action against the respondent for not supplying the information within the stipulated time period.
5. The respondent submitted that in a point-wise reply dated 05.12.2017, the appellant has been informed that the information sought by him regarding pending court cases of BCCL and the areas of BCCL, names of the advocates on panel, action taken by BCCL against the orders/judgment passed by the court and related matter is not specific as the latter did not specify the name of the court before which the proceedings are pending under the CNT Act. Further, the matters are sub-judice before the court of law, hence, no information can be provided in view of Section 8(1)(b) of the RTI Act. Moreover, the information sought by the appellant pertains to each area of BCCL and its Hqrs. which is not readily available at one place and is Page 2 of 5 voluminous in nature, collating and compiling of which would disproportionately divert the resources of the respondent organization. Hence, the disclosure of information is exempted as per Section 7(9) of the RTI Act.
6. The appellant submitted that he has not received the letter dated 05.12.2017. He further submitted that the respondent should collect the information from various areas and furnish it to him.
Decision:
7. The Commission, after hearing the submissions of both the parties and perusing the records, observes that an appropriate response has not been furnished to the appellant by the respondent. The Commission notes that the CPIO has incorrectly denied the information sought under Section 8(1)(b) of the RTI Act. Section 8(1)(b) of the RTI Act exempts from disclosure "information which has been expressly forbidden to be published by any court of law or tribunal or the disclosure of which may constitute contempt of court". From a bare perusal of Section 8(1)(b) of the RTI Act, it is evidently clear that protection is only apropos the information which has been expressly forbidden to be published by any court, or disclosure of which may constitute a contempt of court. In the present case, the respondent was not able to establish that the disclosure of the information sought by the appellant was specifically prohibited/ forbidden or barred by any Court or would lead to a contempt of the Court, in terms of Section 8 (1) (b) of the RTI Act. Simply asserting that a matter is sub juice would not qualify to be considered for being exempted and for withholding information under the RTI Act. The Commission takes a serious note of this lapse and counsels the CPIO to be more careful in future so that such lapses do not recur. Nonetheless, the Commission agrees with the submissions of the Page 3 of 5 respondent that the detailed information sought by the appellant regarding various pending court cases filed by/against BCCL and each of its area is voluminous in nature, collating and compiling of which would disproportionately divert the resources of the respondent organization. Hence, the disclosure of information is exempted as per Section 7(9) of the RTI Act. Further, in view of the decision of the Hon'ble Delhi High Court in the case of The Registrar Supreme Court of India Vs. Commodore Lokesh K. Batra & Ors (LPA 24/2015 & CM No. 965/2015), the respondent cannot be asked to collect and collate information in the manner in which it is sought by the appellant.
8. The Commission further directs the respondent to resend a copy of the CPIO's reply dated 05.12.2017 along with its proof of dispatch including the Registered Post tracking number to the appellant within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order under intimation to the Commission.
9. With the above observations, the appeal is disposed of.
10. Copy of the decision be provided free of cost to the parties.
Sd/-
Sudhir Bhargava (सुधीर भागगव) Chief Information Commissioner (मुख्य सूचना आयुक्त) दिनांक / Date 25.06.2019 Authenticated true copy (अनभप्रमानणत सत्यानपत प्रनत) S. S. Rohilla (एस. एस. रोनिल्ला) Dy. Registrar (उप-पंजीयक) 011-26186535 / [email protected] Page 4 of 5 Addresses of the parties:
1. The First Appellate Authority (FAA) Bharat Coking Coal Limited, Regd. Office, Koyla Bhawan, Koyla Nagar, Dhanbad- 826005.
2. The Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), Bharat Coking Coal Limited, Regd. Office, Koyla Bhawan, Koyla Nagar, Dhanbad- 826005.
3. Shri Arun Kr. Prasad Page 5 of 5