Central Information Commission
Phool Chand vs Ministry Of Micro, Small And Medium ... on 2 November, 2018
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/MMSME/A/2017/128407
Phool Chand
....अपीलकता
/Appellant
VERSUS
बनाम
N N Estolkar,
Dy. Director (MA)
O/o the Development Commissioner
MSME, M/o Micro, Small & Medium
Enterprises, Nirman Bhawan, 7th Floor,
Maulana Azad Road, New Delhi - 110108. ... ितवादीगण /Respondent
Dates
RTI application : nil
CPIO reply : not on record
First Appeal : 15.03.2017
FAA Order : not on record
Second Appeal : 19.04.2017
Date of hearing : 07.08.2018, 08.10.2018
Facts:
The appellant vide RTI application dated nil sought information on five points as under:
1. Action taken by the organization on letter dated 19.07.2013 for amending GFRs 142 & 144 .
2. If no action had been taken, reasons for not taking any action.
3. In case the letter was not related to MSME, then which organization did the letter pertain to.
4. Action taken on the letter dated 18.07.2016 addressed to the Director (MA).Page 1 of 6
5. Present status of action taken on the queries mentioned above.
The CPIO's reply and the First Appellate Authority (FAA)'s order are not on record. Aggrieved with the non-supply of the desired information from the respondent authority, the appellant filed second appeal under the provision of Section 19 of the RTI Act before the Central Information Commission on 19.04.2017.
Grounds for Second Appeal The CPIO did not provide the desired information.
Order
Appellant : Present
Respondent : Shri N.N. Estolkar,
Deputy Director cum PIO,
M/o Micro, Small and Medium, Enterprises
During the hearing, the respondent admitted that no reply was provided to the appellant for which a show cause needs to be issued to him.
In view of the above, a Show Cause notice is issued to Shri N.N. Estolkar, Deputy Director cum PIO, M/o Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises u/s 20 of the RTI Act to explain the following:-
Why no reply was provided to the appellant The explanation to the above stated Show Cause notice is to be submitted to the Commission by the respondent CPIO/PIO within 15 days of the receipt of this order. On receipt of the explanation to the said Show Cause notice, further action as deemed appropriate will be taken.
The respondent CPIO should note that in the event of non-submission of the explanation within the time stipulated above, the Commission has the liberty to take the required decision ex-parte against the respondent CPIO/PIO.
During the hearing, the respondent PIO claimed that a reply had already been provided to the appellant but the Commission noted that the reply was in Page 2 of 6 connection with some other RTI application although the subject matter was the same.
Be that as it may, since no desired information was provided to the appellant in the present case, the present respondent Shri N.N. Estolkar, Deputy Director cum PIO, M/o Micro, Small and Medium, Enterprise is directed to provide revised point wise reply complete in all respects to the appellant as available on record in the form of certified true copies of the documents sought e.g. note sheets, letters, correspondences, e-mails etc.(legible copies), free of charge u/s 7(6) of the RTI Act within 21 days of the receipt of the order. For this purpose, the concerned CPIO/PIO, can take assistance of any other office/department u/s 5(4) of the RTI Act.
The respondent CPIO is further directed to send a report containing the copy of the revised reply and the date of despatch of the same to the RTI appellant within 07 days thereafter to the Commission for record.
With the above Show cause notice/direction, the appeal is disposed of. Copies of the order be sent to the concerned parties free of cost.
Adjunct Order : 08.10.2018
Respondent : Shri N.N. Estolkar, Deputy Director
C/O Office of the Development Commission,
New Delhi
Submissions of Sh. N N Estolkar, Dy Director-:
The appeal of Shri Phool Chand before CIC was for not providing him the information sought by him vide his RTI application dated 10.02.2017 relating to GFRs 142 and 144 in regard to Public Procurement Policy (PPP). The applicant had also approached the M/o Social Justice & Empowerment (SJ&E) vide his RTI applications on 22.05.2013 and on 10.03.2016. M/o SJ&E has replied to him vide their letters dated 19.07.2013 and 30.03.2016 respectively.Page 3 of 6
He had earlier also approached the CIC, New Delhi for non providing of sought for information relating to the reservation to SC/ST entrepreneurs under PPP scheme of the Ministry of Social Justice.
In fact, the applicant has been regularly seeking the same information under the RTI Act, 2005 regarding amendment of the GFRs 142 and 144 and for reservation of SC/ST entrepreneurs in all types of contract, tender etc and had been demanding 30% reservation for SC/ST entrepreneurs in regard to any Public Procurement.
His request had been examined earlier in detail and the applicant had been provided relevant information vide their office letters dated 17.08.2015 and 28.04.2016 (copy enclosed) enclosing therewith the relevant note sheet (with a copy to the CIC) in reference to their letter dated 30.07.2015 and M/o Social Justice & Empowerment with reference to their O.M dated 30.03.2016.
Further earlier, the said applicant had been requested to visit Office of the DC-MSME, Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi to discuss the issue with the CPIO and to get further information if required. The applicant has visited the office and he had been shown relevant file(s) and provided necessary information.
During the discussion the applicant was also advised to provide list of the SC/ST entrepreneurs to make the data bank related to MSEs owned by SC/ST updated. He had been also advised to visit the NSIC to know details about SC/ST hub and also provide them list of the SC/ST entrepreneurs, if available with him.
The applicant provided a list of 14 MSEs to the respondent authority but he could not provide their registration/UAM details to the respondent. Accordingly he was advised to get them online UAM to avail the benefit of Public Procurement Policy benefits.
As regards his letter dated 18.07.2016 addressed to N.N. Estolkar, DD which was wrongly written as Director (MA), enclosing therewith list of four MSEs Page 4 of 6 owned by SC/ST entrepreneurs is concerned, complete details of registration had not been provided by the applicant. However he had been suggested to contact the NSIC for registering these SC/ST entrepreneurs with the designated SC/ST hub.
The list provided by the applicant had been forwarded to the NSIC for providing necessary assistance under SC/ST hub vide letter No. 6(1)/2017-MA dated 30th July, 2018.
He further submitted that the applicant was habitual in nature to ask for the same information repeatedly in one form or other form. As a result, information as sought by the applicant vide the referred RTI application could not be provided as the same information had already been provided to the applicant through various means and various periods as mentioned above. The particular information as sought vide his letter in February, 2017 had been inadvertently replied through grievance portal no. 'PMOPG/D/2016/0216589.' However, as directed by the CIC the revised point wise reply had again been sent to the applicant vide their office letter of even no. dated 11th September, 2018.
He requested to condone the delay, and assured the Commission that no such mistake will be repeated in future.
Decision:
The Commission observed that the delay in replying to the present RTI application was from 10.02.2017 to 11.09.2018, which is a substantial period. The explanation was also improper. The delay in reply was not at all justifiable.
The Commission hereby imposes penalty of Rs. 10,000/- on Sh. N N Estolkar, Dy Director for not providing the requisite information under the provision of the RTI Act. Accordingly, he is directed to pay a sum of Rs 10,000/- in 4 equal monthly installments. The First Appellate Authority is directed to recover the amount of Rs 10,000/- from the salary payable to Sh. N N Estolkar, Dy Director and remit the same by way of demand draft drawn in favour of 'PAO CAT' New Delhi in 4 equal monthly installments. The first installment should Page 5 of 6 reach the Commission by 20.12.2018 and the last installment should reach by
20.03.2019. The Demand Drafts should be sent to the Deputy Registrar (CR-II), e- mail;[email protected] Room no. 106, First Floor, Central Information Commission, Baba Gangnath Marg, Munirka, New Delhi-110067.
The registry of this bench is directed to send a copy of this order to the First Appellate Authority for compliance of this order.
The First Appellate Authority is directed to take action as per the above direction and submit an action taken report within 15 days from the receipt of this order.
A copy of this order is to be sent to the Secretary, MSME for information. With the above order, the showcause proceeding is treated as closed. Copies of the order be sent to the concerned parties free of cost.
अिमताभ भ टाचाय)
Amitava Bhattacharya (अिमताभ टाचाय
Information Commissioner ( सूचना आयु )
Authenticated true copy
(अिभ मा णत स या पत ित)
Ajay Kumar Talapatra
Dy. Registrar
011- 26182594 / [email protected]
अजय कु मार तलपा , उप-पंजीयक
दनांक / Date
Copy to:
1. First Appellate Authority, O/o the Development Commissioner, MSME, M/o Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Nirman Bhawan, 7th Floor, Maulana Azad Road, New Delhi - 110108.
2. Secretary, MSME, M/o Micro, Small & Medium , Enterprises, Nirman Bhawan, 7th Floor, Maulana Azad Road, New Delhi - 110108.
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