Central Information Commission
Shri.Himani Pande vs Ministry Of Culture on 15 July, 2011
CENTRAL INFORMATION COMMISSION
Club Building (Near Post Office)
Old JNU Campus, New Delhi - 110067
Tel: +91-11-26161796
Decision No. CIC/SM/C/2011/000183/SG/13458
Complaint No. CIC/SM/C/2011/000183/SG
Relevant facts emerging from the Complaint:
Complainant : Ms. Himani Pandey
29, Bazar Lane, 1st Floor,
New Delhi- 110001
Respondent : Mr. V. P. Sharma
CPIO & Consultant,
Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts,
CV Mess, Janpath,
New Delhi- 110001
RTI application filed on : 26.07.2010 & 03.08.2010
PIO replied to application on : No reply
Complaint filed on 22.10.2010
Brief Facts leading to complaint:
The Complainant had filed two RTI Applications dated 26.07.2010 & 03.08.2010 to the RTI Officer, IGNCA. She had requested for information in the RTI Application as follows-
Application dated 26.07.2010- Response sent by the IGNCA for the Parliament Question provisional starred Dy. No. 1924 dated 28.07.2010, related to misuse of archival collections in IGNCA, to Smt. S. Mahajan, Ministry of Culture.
Application dated 03.08.2010- Provision of information/documents, as follows:
1. Three letters have been sent by Complainant to the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India on 22.08.2010, 10.03.2010 and 06.07.2010. Have these letters been forwarded to the IGNCA? If yes, then copy of evidence of Diary Dispatch.
2. What was the response/ acknowledgment received? Copies of the same.
3. What action has the administration taken regarding the complaints of the undersigned to the Hon'ble Prime Minister regarding theft of the High Resolution DVD of Raja Deen Dayal Collection from the Cultural Archives and passing these to a commercial studio for printing?
Grounds for Complaint:
No reply received in response to both RTI Applications.
Relevant Facts emerging during Hearing:
The following were present:
Complainant: Ms. Himani Pandey;
Respondent: Mr. V. P. Sharma, CPIO & Consultant and Mr. Sunil Goel, Section Officer;
The CPIO states that the complainant has filed number of applications and there appears to be some confusion in which RTI applications have been replied to. The complainant states that she has filed some 25 RTI applications and is disappointed with the responses received. The respondent also produced a letter of 18/11/2010 in which he has requested the complainant to provide consolidated list of unanswered RTI applications. This was sent by speed post but could not be delivered to the complainant since she appears to have been under medical treatment at that time. The PIO has again sent similar letter to the complainant on 29/06/2011 and the complainant states that she will provide list of unanswered RTI applications to the PIO. With respect to the current application the Commission is providing a copy of the RTI application to the PIO and the PIO is directed to provide the information to the Complainant before 30 July 2011 based on the available records. The Complainant would also like to inspect the records relevant on 04 August 2011 from 02.00PM onwards. The PIO is directed to facilitate an inspection of the relevant records by the Appellant on
04 August 2011 from 02.00PM onwards at the office of the PIO. In case there are any records or file which the complainant believes should exist, which are not shown to him, he will give this in writing to the PIO at the time of inspection and the PIO will either give the files/records or give it in writing that such files/records do not exist.
Decision:
The complaint is allowed.
The PIO is directed to provide the information as directed above to the Complainant before 30 July 2011.
The PIO is also directed to facilitate an inspection of the relevant records by the Appellant on 04 August 2011 from 02.00PM onwards. The PIO will give attested photocopies of records which the Appellant wants free of cost upto 100 pages.
This decision is announced in open chamber.
Notice of this decision be given free of cost to the parties. Any information in compliance with this Order will be provided free of cost as per Section 7(6) of RTI Act.
Shailesh Gandhi Information Commissioner 15 July 2011 (In any correspondence on this decision, mention the complete decision number.)(SH