Central Information Commission
Shri Sanjeev Kumar vs Esic on 22 January, 2010
1
CENTRAL INFORMATION COMMISSION
Room No.296, II Floor, B Wing, August Kranti Bhawan, Bhikaji Cama
Place, New Delhi110066
Telefax:01126180532 & 01126107254 websitecic.gov.in
Appeal No. CIC/LS/A/2009/000819DS
Appellant : Shri Sanjeev Kumar, Chandigarh
Public Authority : ESIC, New Delhi
(through Shri Raj Kumar, Joint Director(RTI)
(CPIO); &
Shri G.S. Giri, Joint Director(Recruitment)
(PIO))
Date of Hearing : 22/01/2010
Date of Decision : 22/01/2010
Facts:-
The appellant Shri Sanjeev Kumar, vide his RTI application dated 20/04/2009, addressed to CPIO, ESIC, Chandigarh, sought information regarding recruitment of Insurance Inspectors/Manager Grade-II/Superintendent - 2007, conducted by ESIC.
2. The information sought pertains to Chandigarh Centre, Other Centres and Head Office of ESIC.
3. The CPIO responded vide his letters dated 18/21 May, 2009.
4. Meanwhile, the appellant made an appeal to the first AA HQs, ESIC, New Delhi on 20/05/2009, requesting them to provide information.
5. The first AA, after ascertaining that information on all points desired by the appellant had been provided to him by the CPIO, HQs again endorsed the above to the appellant along with decision of the AA dated 01/06/2009.
6. Not being satisfied with the information received, the appellant has come before the Commission in second appeal.
7. The hearing was held today at which the public authority was represented as above. The appellant was also present. The appellant averred that in respect of information sought for the Chandigarh Centre, he was fully satisfied in respect of question 1, 2, 3 & 4 at Annexure A - enclosed herewith.
8. In respect of question 5, the appellant stated that he would be satisfied if he was informed of the basis on which the selection process was done only in respect of Centres at Chandigarh, Faridabad, Patna, Jaipur and Mumbai.
29. In respect of computer skill tests held at Other Centres, Annexure B- enclosed herewith, the appellant stated that he was satisfied in respect of questions at 1,3&4.
10. In respect of question 2, he desired to inspect the information preserved in the hard disc since he had been informed by the CPIO that the entire information had been forwarded to Headquarters.
11. With reference to question 5, the appellant's observation are the same as in respect of question 5 in Annexure A.
12. The appellant sought information regarding the computer skill test taken at Headquarters in the questions at Annexure C- enclosed herewith.
13. In respect of Question a, the respondent informed that this computer skill test was for using Excel and MS Office Softwares.
14. The appellant desired to have the full designation of the competent authority who had decided whether the computer skill test would be of qualifying nature or competitive nature. He also asked to be provided a copy of the circular wherein the standards for the skill test were laid down and which would have been circulated to all Centres to ensure uniformity and standardization of the examination.
15. In respect of Questions b & c, the appellant desired to know if a minimum standard of hardware had been prescribed to all Centres in order to ensure a level playing field for all those who took the Examination.
16. In respect of Questions d,e,f,g and h too, the appellant stated that information was required so that the sele3ction process could be shown to be fair and transparent.
DECISION
17. The Commission has carefully gone over the responses given by the CPIO of the Headquarters of ESIC vide his response dated 19/05/2009, particularly, in respect of f,g&h of the RTI application at Annexure C.
18. Denying of information by the CPIO u/s 8(1)(e)&(j) is erroneous since the ESIC is a public authority and any examination conducted by them using public funds and for recruiting the best possible human resource is a matter which must have the greatest degree of transparency to ensure fairness in the selection process.
19. The Commission also does not see any merit in the fallacious argument put-forth by the CPIO, Jaipur Centre in his letter of 04/06/2009 which is as follows:-
"You have further desired to supply the details of computer used during the Computer Skill Test held at M/s Compucom Software Ltd., Sitapura, Jaipur. In this connection it is informed that at the tme of conducting the examination of computer skill test, the information with regard to details of computer to be used was not collected from the agency as it was not felt necessary. Hence, the information 3 desired by you is not available with this office and the same cannot be provided. Further, M/s Compucom software Ltd. is not a "public authority" as defined in the RTI Act and as such this office cannot insist upon them to provide the information desired by you because of its authenticity at this belated stage."
20. The matter has been analysed in the light of Section 8(1)(f) and 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act. The appeal file has been dealt with and the decision has been redrafted as under:
21. CPIO in his response has consistently maintained that information sought by the appellant was not collected from the private agency as the same was not felt necessary. There is no reason not to believe the said submissions of the public authority. Under the RTI Act, it is only the information which is held by or available with the public authority which could qualify to be `information' and the information right, if any, shall extend to only such information. In this connection, it is necessary to look into Sections 2(f) and 2(j) of the Right to Information Act which are reproduced as under:
"2(f) "information" means any material in any form, including records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force."
2(j) "right to information" means the right to information accessible under this Act which is held by or under the control of any public authority and includes the right to--
"(i) inspection of work, documents, records;
(ii) taking notes, extracts or certified copies of documents or records;
(iii) taking certified samples of material;
(iv) obtaining information in the form of diskettes, floppies, tapes, video cassettes or in any other electronic mode or through printouts where such information is stored in a computer or in any other device."
The Right to Information Act thus confers on a citizen a right only to get such information which is held by the public authority or under its control. Naturally, the public authority cannot be expected to provide to the appellant information which they do not hold. If no records are available there would be no question of furnishing any copy of the same and as such no direction could be given for furnishing of the said records."
22. In view of the above, action may be taken to provide information to the appellant as follows:-
Annexure A - Answer in respect of Q5 only for Centres at Chandigarh, Faridabad, Patna, Jaipur and Mumbai Annexure B - The appellant may be provided with an opportunity to inspect the information requested for in Q 2.
Q 5 - Action to be taken as per Annexure A above. Annexure C - Question a - answer may be provided.
Questions b,c,d,e,f,g&h - Copies of circulars/order issued in this regard may be provided.
23. The above information may be provided to the appellant by the public authority within three weeks of receipt of this order.
(Smt. Deepak Sandhu) 4 Information Commissioner (DS) Authenticated true copy:
(Tarun Kumar) Joint Secretary & Addl. Registrar Copy to: 1 Shri Sanjeev Kumar, C/o Ajay Kumar, House No-2221, Sector-19-C, Chandigarh.
2. Shri Raj Kumar, Joint Director(RTI)(CPIO) Employees State Insurance Corporation, Panchdeep Bhawan:-CIG Road, New Delhi-110002.
3. Shri G.S. Giri, Joint Director(Recruitment)(PIO) Employees State Insurance Corporation, Panchdeep Bhawan:-CIG Road, New Delhi-110002.
3. The First Appellate Authority, Under RTI Act, 2005, Employees State Insurance Corporation, Panchdeep Bhawan:-CIG Road, New Delhi-110002.