Central Information Commission
Shomik Kohli vs Directorate General Of Goods And ... on 7 July, 2022
Author: Saroj Punhani
Bench: Saroj Punhani
के ीय सूचना आयोग
Central Information Commission
बाबागंगनाथमाग , मुिनरका
Baba Gangnath Marg, Munirka
नई द ली, New Delhi - 110067
File No : CIC/CCEMT/A/2021/610486+
CIC/DGSTX/A/2021/613397+
CIC/DGSTX/A/2021/613396
Shomik Kohli ......अपीलकता /Appellant
VERSUS
बनाम
CPIO,
Office of the Principal Commissioner,
CGST Audit Commissionerate, Meerut,
RTI Cell, Opposite Shaheed Smarak,
Delhi Road, Meerut-250005,
Uttar Pradesh. .... ितवादीगण /Respondent
Date of Hearing : 05/07/2022
Date of Decision : 05/07/2022
INFORMATION COMMISSIONER : Saroj Punhani
Note: The above referred Appeals have been clubbed for decision as these are
based on the similar RTI Application.
Relevant facts emerging from appeal:
RTI application filed on : 19/11/2020 & 12/01/2021 & 11/01/2021
CPIO replied on : 18/12/2020 & 08/02/2021 & 08/02/2021
First appeal filed on : 28/12/2020 & 15/02/2021 & 14/02/2021
First Appellate Authority's order : 03/02/2021 & 31/03/2021 & 26/03/2021
2nd Appeal/Complaint dated : 21/03/2021 & 11/04/2021 & 11/04/2021
1
CIC/CCEMT/A/2021/610486
Information sought:
The Appellant filed an RTI application dated 19.11.2020 seeking the following information:
"The CGST Audit Commissionerate, Meerut having its headquarter at Meerut. Out of the total 23 Groups of 07 Circles working in the Audit Commissionerate, 14 Audit Groups pertaining to Circle- 4, 5, 6 & 7 are working from CGO-II Complex, Near Hapur Chungi, Ghaziabad.
In view of the above background and in the public interest, I wish to seek information from the CGST Audit Commissionerate, Meerut, in terms of provisions of RTI Act, 2005, as under:
a. Please inform, the cadre-wise sanctioned strength of the staff / officers i.e. Additional / Joint Commissioner, Asstt./Dy. Commissioner, Superintendents, Inspectors, Ministerial staff, Contingent staff and others, if any(e.g. Driver /Sepoys etc) at the Circle offices working at Ghaziabad.
b. Please inform the cadre-wise working strength of the staff / officers i.e. Additional / Joint Commissioner, Asstt./Dy. Commissioner, Superintendents, Inspectors, Ministerial staff, Contingent staff and others, if any(e.g. Driver /Sepoys etc) at the Circle offices working at Ghaziabad. c. Please inform the space required for each officer cadre wise i.e. Additional / Joint Commissioner, Asstt./Dy. Commissioner, Superintendents, Inspectors, Ministerial staff, Contingent staff and others, as per CBIC infrastructure Manual and other statutory requirements and in view of the statutory requirements the Minimum space required for the Circle offices working at Ghaziabad. d. Please inform the space allotted/occupied by the officers cadre wise, individually, i.e. Additional / Joint Commissioner, Asstt./Dy. Commissioner, Superintendents, Inspectors, Ministerial staff, Contingent staff and others, as per CBIC infrastructure Manual and other statutory requirements, in their office at CGO Complex-II, Ghaziabad.
e. Please inform whether at present the social distancing norms (Minimum distance of two yards as Honourable Prime Minister of India has already given a slogan for the Nation) are being followed at CGST Audit Commissionerate, Meerut as well as at the Circle offices working at Ghaziabad. f. Please inform number of the staff/officers tested positive for Covid-19 during the last three months at CGST Audit Commissionerate, Meerut and also at the Circle offices working at Ghaziabad.
2g. Please inform the specific dates during the last three months on which sanitisation of the CGST Audit Commissionerate, Meerut/ Circle offices working at Ghaziabad, was done.
h. Please inform that there is any proposal to shift the Circle offices from CGO-II Complex to the space already available with the department in CGO-I Complex, Ghaziabad.
i. Please inform, the tentative date for shifting of the Ghaziabad Circle offices from CGO-II Complex to CGO-I Complex, Ghaziabad, for following social distancing norms and for safeguarding the health of the Staff/Officers in view of Covid-19 pandemic."
The CPIO furnished a para-wise reply to the appellant on 18.12.2020 stating as follows:-
"Point No. (a) & (b) Cadre wise sanctioned/working strength of the staff/officers at the circles working at Ghaziabad has not been separately specified/issued. Point No. (c) Ministry of Urban Development has laid down sitting space for various categories of officers of the Central Excise & Customs Department Vide O.M. No. 26/19/65-Acc.I1(3) dated 20.12.1965. as per O.M.
(a) 23 Sq. Meters space is given for the officers from Joint Commissioner to Principal Commissioner. (b) 18 sq. Meters space is given for the officers from Assistant Commissioner to Deputy Commissioner. (c) 14.5 sq. Meters space is given for the officers Superintendent or equivalent officers (d) 11 sq. Meters space is given for the officers Inspectors/PO/Examiner. Point No. (d) Space allotted cadre wise at CGO II Complex, Ghaziabad.
(i) Additional Commissioner - Nil
(ii) Joint Commissioner - Nil
(iii) Assistant Commissioner : 01 (Combined area of these officers is 1400Sq.ft. area)
(iv) Superintendent : 15(Combined area of these officers is 1400 Sq.ft.
approx. )
(v) Inspector : 27 Combined area of these officers is 1400 Sq.ft. approx. )
(vi) Contingent :05 (Combined area of these officers is 1400 Sq.ft. approx.) Point No. (e) The Social distancing norms arc being followed at Audit Meerut office as far as possible.
3Point No. (f) Only three officers were tested positive during last three months. Point No. (g) Yes the office is being sanitized on regular basis twice in a week, however, no datawise record is being maintained. Point No. (h) All Circle offices being shifted to CGO Complex-I, Ghaziabad on 17.12.2020 85 18.12.2020.
Point No. (i) Reply as above (Point No. h)."
Being dissatisfied, the appellant filed a First Appeal dated 28.12.2020. FAA's order dated 03.02.2021 upheld the reply of CPIO.
CIC/DGSTX/A/2021/613397 Information sought:
The Appellant filed an online RTI application dated 12.01.2021 seeking the following information:
"........It has been gathered that some IRS officers working in the CGST Meerut Zone are not working from their respective Headquarters. For example the IRS officers of the Audit Commissionerate Meerut and from the office of the Chief Commissioner are working from the CGST Commissionerate Ghaziabad at CGO-II Complex, Near Hapur Chungi, Ghaziabad. In the public interest, the applicant seeks information from the CGST Audit Commissionerate, Meerut, in terms of provisions of RTI Act, 2005, as under:
a. Please inform Name and Designation of all the such IRS officers who are working from the station other than their allotted/normal place of posting in terms of their posting/transfer order.
b. Please inform period from which such IRS officers are working from the station other than their allotted/normal place of posting. Please provide information for each individual officer.
c. Please inform the authority under which these IRS officers are working from the station other than their allotted/normal place of posting. If there is any authority please provide the copy of same.
d. Please inform, whether any approval/sanction/permission has been given by the office of the Chief Commissioner / CBIC, New Delhi to work from the station other than their allotted/normal place of posting.
e. Please inform, whether any approval/sanction/permission/authorisation has been given by the office of the Commissioner, from where these officers are working despite having no work/charge at that Commissionerate, for example the officers working from the Ghaziabad CGST Commissionerate.
f. If yes, please provide copy of sanction/permission/authorisation issued by the Head of the Department or any other officer of the respective 4 Commissionerate from where these officers working, despite having no charge in such Commissionerate.
g. Please inform whether double allocation of space and resources (Staff as additional officers appointed at place other than their headquarter, Furniture, Desktop systems, Phone, Internet, Electricity, Vehicles and Sundries) to these officers one at their respective headquarters and another at their actual place of working is leading to shortage of space and resources for the junior officers/staff as well as department.
h. Please inform the number of working days spent by each such officers at their Headquarter as well as at the actual place of working other than Head quarter for the last quarter i.e. period from 01.10.2020 to 31.12.2020."
The CPIO furnished a para wise reply to the appellant on 08.02.2021 stating as follows:-
"As per available records at this branch, no information is available in respect of point No. a to h, asked by the applicant."
Being dissatisfied, the appellant filed a First Appeal dated 15.02.2021. FAA's order dated 31.03.2021 upheld the reply of CPIO.
CIC/DGSTX/A/2021/613396 Information sought:
The Appellant filed an online RTI application dated 11.01.2021 seeking the following information:
a. "Please inform, whether any Trade Notice for the shifting of the Circle Offices of the Ghaziabad to CGO-I Complex, Hapur Chungi, Ghaziabad has been issued by the CGST department. If issued please provide the copy of the same.
b. Please inform the Floor-wise room numbers allotted to the Circle offices of CGST Audit Commissionerate at the CGO-I Complex, Hapur Chungi, Ghaziabad.
c. Please inform the total area of the space allotted/available to the Circle offices of CGST Audit Commissionerate at the CGO-I Complex, Hapur Chungi, Ghaziabad.
d. Two Assistant Commissioners are also posted in the four Audit Circles (4, 5, 6 and 7) of Ghaziabad. Please inform the carpet area and room no.5
allotted to the In charge of each Circle (Assistant/Dy. Commissioner) i.e. Circle 4, 5, 6 & 7 of the CGST Audit Commissionerate.
e. Please inform, whether the area has been allotted to the Superintendents, Inspectors, TAs and Sepoys Group wise or in person i.e. designation-wise.
f. If Group-wise, please inform the total area allotted to each Group, individually and the respective room number /numbers of each Groups at the CGO-I Complex g. If designation-wise, please inform the total area allotted to each individual officer/staff of each Group (From Sepoys to the Superintendents) with his respective room number.
h. At the CGO-II Complex the Commissioner/Additional Commissioner/Joint Commissioner of the Audit Commissionerate were provided office spaces, please inform whether the said office space has been vacated or still occupied by the officers of the Audit Commissionerate, Meerut. i. Please inform whether at the CGO-I Complex, the Commissioner/Additional Commissioner/Joint Commissioner of the Audit Commissionerate have been provided office space. If yes, please inform room number and the area of office space allocated to each of the above individual officer.
j. Please inform the space allotted/occupied by the officers cadre wise, individually, i.e. Commissioner/Additional / Joint Commissioner, Asstt./Dy. Commissioner, Superintendents, Inspectors, Ministerial staff, Contingent staff and others, as per CBIC Infrastructure Manual and other statutory requirements, in the office at CGO Complex- I, Ghaziabad. k. Please inform whether after shifting to the CGO Complex-I, Ghaziabad the social distancing norms are being followed at CGST Audit Circle offices working at Ghaziabad.
l. If the available space is still short as per the statutory requirement, please inform that whether there is any proposal to acquire more space from the CPWD in CGO-I Complex."
The CPIO furnished a para-wise reply to the appellant on 08.02.2021 stating as follows:-
"(a) As soon as the trade notice issued same will be properly publicized and will be in public domain.
(b) Circle Offices of the Ghaziabad of Audit Meerut Commissionerate are at present operational from the CGO-I Complex at 3rd Floor, However, specific 6 allocation of the space has not been made yet due to ongoing infrastructure augmentation as the shifting process is still under way.
(c) As per the information available total area allotted/provided (to Circle Offices of the Ghaziabad of Audit Meerut Commissionerate) at 3rd Floor of CGO Complex-I, is 8878/- Sq. ft.
(d) As per (b) above.
(e) As per (b) above.
(f) As per (b) above.
(g) As per (b) above.
(h) No information available in this office.
(i) As per (b) above.
(j) As per (b) above.
(k) Yes.
(l) No information available as per records."
Being dissatisfied, the appellant filed a First Appeal dated 14.02.2021. FAA's order dated 26.03.2021 upheld the reply of CPIO.
Feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied, appellant approached the Commission with the instant Second Appeal.
Relevant Facts emerging during Hearing:
The following were present:-
Appellant: Not present.
Respondent: Narendra Kumar, CPIO present through video conference.
The CPIO explained the contents of the three RTI Applications and affirmed that the available information has been provided to the Appellant.
Decision:
The Commission observes from a perusal of the facts on record that considering the enormity and the cumbersome nature of the information sought for in the RTI Application, the merits of the CPIO's reply cannot be called into question. Moreover, it is pertinent to note that most of the queries in the instant set of RTI Application do not conform to Section 2(f) of the RTI Act as the Appellant has sought for confirmation of statements and answers to frivolous questions. The Appellant shall note that outstretching the interpretation of Section 2(f) of the RTI 7 Act to include deductions and inferences to be drawn by the CPIO is unwarranted as it casts immense pressure on the CPIOs to ensure that they provide the correct deduction/inference to avoid being subject to penal provisions under the RTI Act. In this regard, his attention is drawn towards a judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court on the scope and ambit of Section 2(f) of RTI Act in the matter of CBSE vs. Aditya Bandopadhyay & Ors.[CIVIL APPEAL NO.6454 of 2011]wherein it was held as under:
"35. At this juncture, it is necessary to clear some misconceptions about the RTI Act. The RTI Act provides access to all information that is available and existing.........A public authority is also not required to furnish information which require drawing of inferences and/or making of assumptions. It is also not required to provide `advice' or `opinion' to an applicant, nor required to obtain and furnish any `opinion' or `advice' to an applicant. The reference to `opinion' or `advice' in the definition of `information' in section 2(f) of the Act, only refers to such material available in the records of the public authority. Many public authorities have, as a public relation exercise, provide advice, guidance and opinion to the citizens. But that is purely voluntary and should not be confused with any obligation under the RTI Act." (Emphasis Supplied) Further, with respect to the misuse of the RTI Act, the same Court held as under:
"37. The right to information is a cherished right. Information and right to information are intended to be formidable tools in the hands of responsible citizens to fight corruption and to bring in transparency and accountability. The provisions of RTI Act should be enforced strictly and all efforts should be made to bring to light the necessary information under clause (b) of section 4(1) of the Act which relates to securing transparency and accountability in the working of public authorities and in discouraging corruption. But in regard to other information,(that is information other than those enumerated in section 4(1)(b) and (c) of the Act), equal importance and emphasis are given to other public interests (like confidentiality of sensitive information, fidelity and fiduciary relationships, efficient operation of governments, etc.). Indiscriminate and impractical demands or directions under RTI Act for disclosure of all and sundry information (unrelated to transparency and accountability in the functioning of public authorities and eradication of corruption) would be counter-productive as it will adversely affect the efficiency of the administration and result in the executive getting bogged down with the non- productive work of collecting and furnishing information. The Act should not be allowed to be misused or abused, to become 8 a tool to obstruct the national development and integration, or to destroy the peace, tranquility and harmony among its citizens. Nor should it be converted into a tool of oppression or intimidation of honest officials striving to do their duty. The nation does not want a scenario where 75% of the staff of public authorities spends 75% of their time in collecting and furnishing information to applicants instead of discharging their regular duties. The threat of penalties under the RTI Act and the pressure of the authorities under the RTI Act should not lead to employees of a public authorities prioritising 'information furnishing', at the cost of their normal and regular duties."
Having observed as above, no action is warranted in the matter.
The appeal(s) are dismissed accordingly.
Saroj Punhani (सरोजपुनहािन) हािन) Information Commissioner (सूचनाआयु ) Authenticated true copy (अिभ मािणत स#यािपत ित) (C.A. Joseph) Dy. Registrar 011-26179548/ [email protected] सी. ए. जोसेफ, उप-पंजीयक दनांक / 9