Indian Kanoon - Search engine for Indian Law

Central Information Commission

Brij Krishan Sharma vs Ministry Of Labour & Employment on 27 March, 2025

Author: Heeralal Samariya

Bench: Heeralal Samariya

                                     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/MLABE/A/2024/101190

Shri Brij Krishan Sharma                                         ... अपीलकताग/Appellant
                                    VERSUS/बनाम

PIO, Ministry of Labour & Employment                         ...प्रनतवािीगण /Respondent

Date of Hearing                          :   25.03.2025
Date of Decision                         :   25.03.2025
Chief Information Commissioner           :   Shri Heeralal Samariya

Relevant facts emerging from appeal:
RTI application filed on          :           12.10.2023
PIO replied on                    :           07.11.2023
First Appeal filed on             :           17.10.2023
First Appellate Order on          :           09.11.2023
2ndAppeal/complaint received on   :           10.01.2024

 Information sought

and background of the case:

The Appellant filed an RTI application dated 12.10.2023 seeking information on the following points:-

"During my personal visit to NCSC DA Ranchi on 10th October 2023 I have observed that the number of PWD trainees in the center is around 4 or 5. Eight trades has been operated in the center and all the posts of vocational instructors Imparting training to them are filled. The target of 50 trainees per trade has been fixed by the headquarters. According to this there should be 400 trainees in the centre. In the above context the following information should be provided to me under RTI.

1. What is the number of trainees registered trade wise in the centre. How many of them are attending regularly.

2. At present How many vocational instructors are working on contract in the center and how many regular posts are filled.

3. If the trainees are not available then how salary is being given to the above employees Why the rule of no work no pay is not applicable here."

The CPIO, NCSC, Ranchi vide letter dated 07.11.2023 replied as under:-

"Ans. for Item No.-1-Total 193 trainees are regularly attending the training programme. Trainees in trades wise as below-

Consumer Electronics-27, Automobile Repairing-26, Computer Application & Office Management-26, General Mechanic-21, Dress Making-23, Offset Printing & Book Binding-24, Computer Hardware & Maintenace-22, Hair & Skin Care-24. Ans. for item No.- 2 No. of Vocational Instructor on contractual basis-03 and No. of regular Vocational Instructor-05.

Ans. for Item No.-3- Not applicable."

Dissatisfied with the response received from the CPIO, the Appellant filed a First Appeal dated 17.10.2023. The FAA vide order dated 09.11.2023 upheld the reply of CPIO and also annexed the same.

Aggrieved and dissatisfied, the Appellant approached the Commission with the instant Second Appeal.

Facts emerging in Course of Hearing:

Hearing was scheduled after giving prior notice to both the parties.

Appellant: Not present Respondent: Shri G K Mukherjee - Assistant Director, Shri Barajesh Kumar - US/CPIO, Shri Rajmuni - CPIO, Dy. Director, DGE were present for hearing and Shri Rakesh Ranjan - CPIO/Asst. Director (Emp.), Kanpur and Shri Yogesh Parkhey - CPIO, Asst. Director (Emp.), NCSC, Ranchi was present through video conference during hearing.

The Appellant was neither present for hearing nor reachable through telephone. The Respondent contended that information as permissible under the RTI Act had been duly furnished to the Appellant. It was further stated by the Respondent in line with their previous contentions made during the earlier hearing held on 29.01.2025 that the Appellant an ex employee of the Respondent public authority has filed as many as 780 RTI applications, seeking frivolous random information, repeatedly. He has been harassing the organisation with the outrageous number of vexatious queries and answering the humungous number of applications has substantially impacted the work force, diverting human resources and other public resources of the public authority.

Decision:

1. Perusal of records of the case reveals that the information, available on record with the respective public authorities which qualifies under Section 2(f) of the RTI Act, has been duly provided to the Appellant.

2. In the light of the large number of cases filed by the Appellant and the factual premise of the cases, the Commission finds it worthwhile to mention a similar case wherein this Commission in its decision no. CIC/YA/A/2014/001071, 001123, 001210 while disposing of a batch of fifteen matters of one Sh. M Danasegar dated 30.06.2015 had held as follows:

"......The Commission finds this case to be a classic instance of blatant misuse of RTI Act by the appellant, who is a disgruntled employee of the same organisation, through relentlessly filing of a series of RTI applications Page 2 of 6 to harass officials of a public authority. The information sought in most of his RTI applications has no public interest at all and veers around the disciplinary proceedings initiated against him. In the process of seeking the same, the appellant has resorted to reckless data mining on a humongous scale. Still, information has been provided by the respondent authorities as per record on some points and the rest denied for the reason that it is either voluminous or not available or relates to clarification/interpretation. The appellant, motivated by personal interest, has clearly sought such information with the vengeful motive to harass the officers through a flurry of RTI applications. The RTI Act cannot be allowed to be misused or abused and to become a tool of oppression or for intimidation of officials striving to do their duty. ..."

Emphasis supplied

3. The Commission in its aforesaid decision placed reliance on the following Apex Court decision regarding vexatious and frivolous petitions. The Supreme Court in Advocate General, Bihar vs. M.P. Khair Industries(AIR 1980 SC 946) has termed "....filing of frivolous and vexatious petitions as abuse of the RTI process. Some of such abuses specifically mentioned by the Apex Court include initiating or carrying on proceedings which are wanting in bona-fides or which are frivolous, vexatious or oppressive. The Apex Court also observed that in such cases the Court has extensive alternative powers to prevent an abuse of its process by striking out or staying proceedings or by prohibiting taking up further proceedings. ...."

4. The Apex Court had discussed the issue of wasteful vexatious litigation in great detail in the case of Ashok Kumar Pandey vs. The State of West Bengal, (AIR 2003 SC 280 Para 11), where J. Pasayat had held:

".........It is depressing to note that on account of such trumpery proceedings initiated before the Courts, innumerable days are wasted, which time otherwise could have been spent for the disposal of cases of the genuine litigants. Though we spare no efforts in fostering and developing the laudable concept of PIL and extending our long arm of sympathy to the poor, the ignorant, the oppressed and the needy whose fundamental rights are infringed and violated and whose grievances go unnoticed, unrepresented and unheard; yet we cannot avoid but expressing our opinion that while genuine litigants with legitimate grievances relating to civil matters involving properties worth hundreds of millions of rupees and criminal cases in which persons sentenced to death facing gallows under untold agony and persons sentenced to life imprisonment and kept in incarceration for long years, persons suffering from undue delay in service matters, Government or private, persons awaiting the disposal of case... ... ... etc. etc. are all standing in a long serpentine queue for years with the fond hope of getting into the Courts and having their grievances redressed, the busybodies, meddlesome interlopers, wayfarers or officious interveners having absolutely no public interest except for personal gain or private profit either of themselves or as proxy of others or for any other extraneous motivation or for glare of publicity break the queue muffing their faces by wearing the mask of public interest litigation and get into the Courts by filing vexatious and frivolous petitions and thus criminally waste the valuable time of the Courts, as a result of which the queue standing outside the doors of the Courts never moves, which piquant situation creates frustration in the minds of the Page 3 of 6 genuine litigants and resultantly they lose faith in the administration of our judicial system..........."

Emphasis supplied

5. Vexatious litigation and misuse of RTI Act has been discussed in the decision of the Hon'ble High Court of Madras in the case of Public Information Officer, Registrar (Administration) Vs B Bharathi [WP No. 26781/2013 dated 17.09.2014] wherein it has been held as follows:

"...The action of the second respondent in sending numerous complaints and representations and then following the same with the RTI applications; that it cannot be the way to redress his grievance; that he cannot overload a public authority and divert its resources disproportionately while seeking information and that the dispensation of information should not occupy the majority of time and resource of any public authority, as it would be against the larger public interest....."

Emphasis supplied

6. The Hon'ble Delhi High Court also while deciding the case of Shail Sahni vs. Sanjeev Kumar & Ors. [W.P. (C) 845/2014] has observed that:

"........Consequently, this Court deems it appropriate to refuse toexercise its writ jurisdiction. Accordingly, present petition is dismissed. This Court is also of the view that misuse of the RTI Act has to be appropriately dealt with, otherwise the public would lose faith and confidence in this "sunshine Act". A beneficial Statute, when made a tool for mischief and abuse must be checked in accordance with law. ......."

Emphasis supplied

7. In the matter of Rajni Maindiratta- Vs Directorate of Education (North West-B) [W.P.(C) No. 7911/2015] the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi, vide its order dated 08.10.2015 has held that:

"8. .....Though undoubtedly, the reason for seeking the information is not required to be disclosed but when it is found that the process of the law is being abused, the same become relevant. Neither the authorities created under the RTI Act nor the Courts are helpless if witness the provisions of law being abused and owe a duty to immediately put a stop thereto..."

The aforesaid observation essentially proves that the misuse of RTI Act is a well recognized problem and citizens such as the Appellant should take note that their right to information is not absolute.

8. Considering the adverse impact of unmanageable amount of queries, the Apex Court in a vital decision The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India Vs. Shaunak H. Satya and Ors, A.I.R 2011 SC 3336) has categorically cautioned thus:

"...The RTI Act provides access to all information that is available and existing. ... The right to information is a fundamental right as enshrined in Article 19 of the Constitution of India. The Hon'ble Supreme Court has declared in a plethora of cases that the most important value for the functioning of a healthy and well-informed democracy is transparency.

However it is necessary to make a distinction in regard to information intended to bring transparency, to improve accountability and to reduce corruption, falling under Section 4(1)(b) and (c) and other information which may not have a bearing on accountability or reducing corruption. The competent authorities under the RTI Act will have to maintain a proper balance so that while achieving transparency, the demand for information does not reach unmanageable proportions affecting other public interests, which include efficient operation of public authorities and government, preservation of confidentiality of sensitive information and optimum use.."

Emphasis supplied

9. In the other landmark judgement in the case of Central Board of Secondary Education & Anr. Vs. Aditya Bandopadhyay & Ors., the Apex Court held as follows:

"...The Act seeks to bring about a balance between two conflicting interests, as harmony between them is essential for preserving democracy. One is to bring about transparency and accountability by providing access to information under the control of public authorities. The other is to ensure that the revelation of information, in actual practice, does not conflict with other public interests which include efficient operation of the governments, optimum use of limited fiscal resources and preservation of confidentiality of sensitive information. The preamble to the Act specifically states that the object of the Act is to harmonise these two conflicting interest. ...................................

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........................ 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 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..."

Emphasis supplied

10. It is also important to note that this Bench has in the past decided a batch of 26 cases filed by the same Appellant, upon hearing the appeals on 29.01.2025, whereby the Appellant was categorically advised as under:

".. In view of the settled position as enunciated in the above decisions and the facts of the case at hand, it is noted that undoubtedly the modus operandi of filing such large number of irrelevant and unrelated RTI applications is neither proper nor acceptable. Hence, the Appellant is advised to refrain from misusing the RTI Act to resolve any personal grudges.

In the light of the aforementioned discussion and in view of the fact that response sent by the PIOs is found legally appropriate and the Appellant has chosen not to contest the case, no further intervention is warranted in this case, under the RTI Act.

The appeal is disposed off accordingly.

Heeralal Samariya (हीरालाल सामररया) Chief Information Commissioner (मुख्य सूचना आयुक्त) Authenticated true copy (अनिप्रमानणत सत्यानपत प्रनत) S. K. Chitkara (एस. के . नचटकारा) Dy. Registrar (उप-पंजीयक) 011-26186535 Page 6 of 6 Recomendation(s) to PA under section 25(5) of the RTI Act, 2005:-

Nil Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)