Central Information Commission
Mr. V.S. Jain vs Delhi Co-Operative Housing Finance ... on 19 November, 2009
CENTRAL INFORMATION COMMISSION
Club Building (Near Post Office)
Old JNU Campus, New Delhi - 110067
Tel: +91-11-26161796
Decision No. CIC/SG/A/2009/002493/5599
Appeal No. CIC/SG/A/2009/002493
Relevant Facts emerging from the Appeal:
Appellant : Mr. V.S. Jain
D2/2, Ganga Triveni Apartments,
Sector 9, Rohni,
New Delhi - 110085
Respondent : Mr. L.R.Garg
Public Information Officer & GM Delhi Co-Operative Housing Finance Corporation GNCTD 3/6 Siri Fort Institutional Area, August Kranti Marg, New Delhi - 110049 RTI application filed on : 26/03/2009 PIO replied : 27/04/2009 First appeal filed on : 29/04/2009 First Appellate Authority order : 25/05/2009 Second Appeal received on : 01/10/2009 Date of Notice of Hearing : 14/10/2009 Hearing Held on : 19/11/2009 Information Sought:
1. Total loan amount sanctioned and disbursed to Ganga Triveni CGHS Ltd., with details of installments thereof.
2. Total no. of loanee and non-loanee members of Ganga Triveni CGHS Ltd.
3. Details of repayment of installments from the loanee members and the basis of calculation of these installments.
4. Details of total loan amount reimbursed by Gnaga Triveni CGHS Ltd.
5. Does DCHFC maintain accounts of Individual members of the society and if so, the details of the same.
6. Are office bearers of the managing committee of the society authorized by DCHFC to divert to other heads the loan amounts reimbursed by members to the society to be deposited with DCHFC?
7. Details of such diversions and whether they are permitted.
8. What action would DCHFC initiate against past/present office bearers of the Managing Committee of the society for having diverted Loan Recovery amounts to other heads?
9. How would DCHFC recover the amounts so diverted from the office bearers of the society?
10. Will DCHFC issue NOC to such members who are regularly repaying their loan installments & who can prove that they are not defaulters?
11. Is the Managing Committee justified in raising Loan Repayment demands against those who have not defaulted?
12. Copy of arbitrary demands made by Managing Committee of Ganga Triveni CGHS Ltd.
13. Details of members who are defaulters along with extent of default.
14. Copies of Audited Balance Sheets, if the same are required to be submitted.
15. Is the outstanding loan amount due against a member in the event of his death?
Reply of PIO:
Applicant falls under the exemption from disclosure of information u/s 8(1)(d) & 8(1)(e) of the RTI Act, 2005 and thus the information sought cannot be provided.
First Appeal:
Unsatisfactory information was provided by the PIO.
Order of the FAA:
The FAA upheld the reply of the PIO as valid as the information requested was of a commercial nature and pertained to fiduciary relationship and trade secrets and also that there was no privity of contract between the Appellant and DCHFC.
Ground of the Second Appeal:
That the Appellant has still not been supplied with the proper information.
Relevant Facts emerging during Hearing:
The following were present:
Appellant : Mr. V.S. Jain;
Respondent : Mr. L.R.Garg, Public Information Officer & GM;
The PIO has claimed exemption under Section 8(1) (d) & (e) and stated that some of the queries do not seek information as defined under Section 2(f) of the RTI Act. The Commission accepts the exemptions claimed by the PIO since a public sector banks also has commercial interest which would be compromised if information about their customers has to be disclosed as a rule under RTI. It is also a fact that the information provided by the customer to a financial institution or public sector bank will fall under the exemption of being information which was provided in a fiduciary relationship.
The Appellant is claiming a larger public interest in the disclosure of the information. He states that, "the loan was disbursed for 221 of total of 246 members of the society. However, the current managing committee has put the demand for the default amounts on all 246 members irrespective of the fact whether they are loanees or they have already cleared the load amount and even the families of such members who have already expired and the DCHFC has settled the balance loan amounts from the insurance company. This is against the principles of natural justice."
The Respondent states, "as informed by the management of the society there was diversion of funds and the amount which they had collected for depositing in the loan account was diverted for paying electricity bill extra and hence all the members are liable to pay. Even otherwise under the loan agreement and mode gage deed old members of the society are jointly and severally liable."
It is not for the Commission to decide on the merits of who should be discharging the liability. However the Appellant's contention that there is a public interest in knowing the facts about who were the original loanees appears to be reasonable. Public interest also includes the right to get reasonable justice based on the truth. In view of this the Commission has asked the Appellant to ask for the minimum information required keeping in mind that it should not hurt the institutions commercial interest nor lead to a situation where it would be disclosing sensitive information received by it in the fiduciary capacity. The Appellant identifies the following: 1- List of original loanee members submitted by society and accepted by DCHFC.
2- Photocopy of the ledger account of society.
This information would not harm the commercial interest of the institution nor disclosed any sensitive information held by the institution.
Decision:
The Appeal is allowed.
The PIO is directed to give the information described above to the Appellant before 25 November 2009.
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 19 November 2009 (In any correspondence on this decision, mention the complete decision number.)(PS)