Central Information Commission
Meena Pandey vs Delhi Development Authority on 12 March, 2024
केन्द्रीय सूचना आयोग
Central Information Commission
बाबा गंगनाथ मागग, मुननरका
Baba Gangnath Marg, Munirka
नई निल्ली, New Delhi - 110067
File No : CIC/DDATY/A/2023/147912
MEENA PANDEY .....अपीलकर्ाग /Appellant
VERSUS
बनाम
1. The PIO,
Delhi Development Authority,
Land Management Coordination,
A Block, 3rd Floor, Vikas Sadan,
INA, New Delhi - 110023
2. The PIO,
M/o Power (MoP)
Shram Shakti Bhawan,
Rafi Marg, New Delhi - 110001
3. The PIO,
Central Electricity Authority (CEA),
9th Floor, North Wing,
Sewa Bhawan, R.K. Puram,
New Delhi - 110066
4. The PIO,
Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB),
Parivesh Bhawan,
East Arjun Nagar, Delhi - 110032
5. The PIO,
NTPC Ltd, NTPC Bhawan,
SCOPE Complex,
Lodhi Road, New Delhi - 110003 ....प्रनर्वािीगण /Respondents
Page 1 of 6
Date of Hearing : 06-03-2024
Date of Decision : 12-03-2024
INFORMATION COMMISSIONER : Vinod Kumar Tiwari
Relevant facts emerging from appeal:
RTI application filed on : 10-04-2023
CPIO replied on : 13-06-2023, 15-06-2023, 21-06-2023
First appeal filed on : 06-07-2023
First Appellate Authority's order : Not on record
2nd Appeal/Complaint dated : 22-11-2023
Information sought:
The Appellant filed an RTI application dated 10.04.2023 seeking the following information:
"Kindly provide the following information pertaining to your department, regarding the Legacy Fly Ash, already dumped in the Ash Ponds by the Thermal Power Plants, near Yamuna River Delhi, where Parks, gardens, different structure made and the unused area of land where Fly Ash is already dumped:
1. Details of the different area of land along with location and address."
The CPIO, DDA, Land Management Coordination, New Delhi transferred the RTI Application to the CPIO, Ministry of Power, New Delhi on 16.05.2023 to provide necessary information to the applicant.
The CPIO, Ministry of Power, New Delhi transferred the RTI Application to the CPIO's of Central Electricity Authority, Central Pollution Control Board and NTPC Bhawan on 01.06.2023 for further necessary action in the matter.
The CPIO, Central Electricity Authority furnished a reply to the Appellant on 13.06.2023 stating as under:
S. No. Information Sought Reply of CD Division 1 Details of the different area of land along The required information is with location and address. not available in this office.Page 2 of 6
The CPIO, Central Pollution Control Board furnished a reply to the Appellant on 15.06.2023 stating as under:
कृपया नवि् युर्् मंत्रालय, भारर् सरकार के पत्र क्रमांक 14/1/2023-St.Th. निनांक 01.06.2023 द्वारा केंद्रीय प्रिू षण ननयंत्रण बोर्ग को अग्रेनषर् आपके सूचना का अनिकार अनिननयम, 2005 के र्हर् प्रस्तुर् आवेिन निनांक 10.04.2023 का संिभग ग्रहण करें । आपको सूनचर् नकया जार्ा है नक आपके द्वारा चाही गयी जानकारी केंद्रीय प्रिू षण ननयंत्रण बोर्ग के पास उपलब्ध नहीं है।
The CPIO, NTPC Limited furnished a reply to the Appellant on 21.06.2023 stating as under:
1. The area of land of Fly Ash dumped from Badarpur Thermal Power Station, Delhi of NTPC (closed since 15.10.2018) is 884.5 Acres and is being converted into Park.
2. Location: Situated on left side of Kalindi Kunj to Jaitpur Road at Km 2.5 to Km. 3.8.
3. Address: As per location."
Being dissatisfied, the appellant filed a First Appeal dated 06.07.2023. The FAA order is not on record.
Feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied, appellant approached the Commission with the instant Second Appeal.
Relevant Facts emerged during Hearing:
The following were present: -
Appellant: Present through video-conference.
Respondent No. 1: Not present.
Respondent No. 2: Shri Chittaranjan Acharya, U.S. and CPIO, MoP present in person.Page 3 of 6
Respondent No. 3: Shri P. S. Mohan Kumar, Dy. Director/ CPIO, CEA present in person.
Respondent No. 4: Not present.
Respondent No. 5: Shri Shantimoy Nandan, AGM (RTI)/CPIO along with Shri Vikash Kumar, DGM and Shri Kulveer Singh, AGM (Civil), NTPC Ltd. Badarpur present in person.
Appellant pleaded that her RTI Application has been wrongly transferred to the multiple Public Authorities and in turn, no specific/complete information was furnished to her till date.
Respondents submitted that relevant available information at their end has already been provided to the Appellant.
Decision:
The Commission upon a perusal of records observes that the main premise of instant Appeal was non-receipt of complete information. To which, the Respondents submitted that upon receipt of RTI Application on transfer basis, relevant information has been furnished to the Appellant. Further, from a query from the Commission, Appellant could not give a list of Thermal Power Plants whose details she is seeking despite claiming to be under doing research on the subject.
The Commission is of the considered opinion that the Respondent is only a communicator of information based on the records held in the office and hence, he/she cannot be expected to do research work to deduce anything from the material therein and then supply it to him/her. The CPIO can only provide information which is held by them in their records within the public authority.
In this regard, the Commission finds no infirmity in the replies furnished by the Respondents as it were found to be in consonance with the provisions of RTI Act. Thus, intervention of the Commission is not warranted in the matter.Page 4 of 6
Be that as it may, the Commission finds it pertinent to mention that more than 15 cases of the same Appellant have already been heard and disposed of by another bench of this Commission. It is also worth noting that 21 Second Appeals was listed on 06.03.2024, for hearing which shows that the Appellant has filed numerous RTI Applications with different public authority. This intention of the Appellant militates against the spirit of the RTI Act whose primary objective is providing information to the citizen. It appears that the Appellant has grossly misconceived the idea of exercising her Right to Information as being absolute and unconditional.
The Commission further finds it expedient to note the Appellant has filed numerous RTI Applications for the purpose of carrying out her research work through instrumentality of RTI which is likely to clog the RTI channels and thus, depriving the ordinary citizen to exercise their right to information. Further, the PIOs are already doing this assignment under the RTI Act in addition to their normal duties. In this regard, the Commission would like to draw attention of the parties towards a recent decision of this bench, wherein aspect of "misuse of the right to information Act by the Appellant" has been explained in a detailed manner. The relevant extract of ratio laid down in the matter of Nandkishor Gupta v. CPIO, Northwestern Railway, Head Quarter Office, Malviya Nagar, Jaipur - 302017 is as under:
"..... Under the provisions of the RTI Act, while the CPIO/PIO is obliged to facilitate free flow of information to the citizen, it is equally incumbent upon the information seeker to put his/her application in the simplest form possible so that CPIO/PIO can understand the request unambiguously. The Commission is also mindful of the fact that the unenviable noble duty assigned under the RTI Act to Central Public Information Officers (CPIO) and First Appellate Authorities (FAA) by the respective Public Authorities is 'in addition to their normal duties and without any additional remuneration paid for the same' for which they must devote extra efforts, time, and energy..."Page 5 of 6
The Appellant is therefore cautioned to exercise her right to information in an informed and judicious manner.
The appeal is disposed of accordingly.
Vinod Kumar Tiwari (विनोद कुमार वििारी) Information Commissioner (सूचना आयुक्त) Date 12-03-2024 Authenticated true copy (अभिप्रमाभित सत्याभित प्रभत) (R K Rao) Dy. Registrar 011- 26181827 Date Page 6 of 6