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Central Information Commission

Mr.N Raguram vs Ministry Of Commerce And Industry on 13 July, 2012

                        Central Information Commission
             Room No. 305, 2nd Floor, 'B' Wing, August Kranti Bhavan, 
                     Bhikaji Cama Place, New Delhi­110066
                    Web: www.cic.gov.in Tel No: 26167931

                                                Case No. CIC/SS/A/2012/000975
                                                             Dated: 13.07.2012

Name of Appellant                 :      Shri N. Raguram

Name of Respondent                :      PEC Ltd

Date of Hearing                   :      03.07.2012

                                      ORDER

Shri N. Raguram, the appellant has filed this appeal dated 21.12.2011 before the Commission against the respondent PEC Ltd., New Delhi for denial of information in reply to his RTI application dated 5.9.2011. The matter came up for hearing on 03.07.2012. The appellant was absent whereas the respondent were represented by Shri Kavinder Sharma, Chief Marketing Manager, Shri Pinani Prasad Nanda, Deputy Finance Manager and Shri Jitender Singh, Probationary Manager.

2. The appellant filed an application dated 5.9.2011 under the provisions of the RTI Act in which he sought information on seventeen queries pertaining to PEC Ltd Tender for Packing of 1 Litre Pouch RBD Palmolein (Ref No. PEC/PACK/TDR/GOV/IMP/11-12 dated 1.6.2011. The CPIO vide letter No. PEC/RTI/195/11 dated 13.9.2011 informed the appellant that the information sought by him pertains to transactions undertaken with/by third party and most of which were undertaken by third party viz. TNCSC. Therefore, the CPIO held, the information sought was exempted from disclosure u/s 8(1) (d) of the RTI Act, 2005.

3. Not satisfied with the reply of the CPIO, the appellant filed first appeal on 16.9.2011 before the FAA. The FAA vide his order dated 12.10.2011 held that the CPIO has rightly denied the information under section 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act, as the information, if disclosed would harm the competitive position of a third party.

4. In his second appeal the appellant alleged certain irregularities in the subject matter and requested the Commission to direct the respondent to provide information as sought for by him.

5. Having considered the submissions of the parties and perused the relevant records on file, the Commission observes that the process of the aforementioned tender has been completed, and that the provisions of Section 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act are not attracted in the present case.. The Commission hereby directs the CPIO to provide information on Point No. 1 to 4, 6 and 8 of the RTI application to the appellant free of cost, within two weeks of receipt of this order. The information as sought by the appellant at Point No. 5, 7 do not fall within the ambit of 'information' as defined u/s 2(f) of the RTI Act, 2005. As per the submissions of the respondent the information requested at Point No. 9 to 17 pertains to the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC). This being so, the CPIO is hereby directed to transfer these queries u/s 6(3) of the RTI Act, 2005 to the CPIO, TNCSC within five days of receipt of this order for providing information directly to the appellant.

The matter is disposed of with the above directions/observations.

(Sushma Singh) Information Commissioner 3 Case No. CIC/SS/A/2012/000975 Authenticated true copy:

(K.K. Sharma) OSD & Deputy Registrar Address of the parties:

Shri N. Raguram, No. 112, 2nd Floor, Kamaraj Nagar, 3rd Street, Choolaimedu, Chennai-600094.

The CPIO, PEC Ltd., Hansalaya, 15, Barakhamba Road, New Delhi-110001.

The First Appellate Authority, PEC Ltd., Hansalaya, 15, Barakhamba Road, New Delhi-110001.