Central Information Commission
Prem Kumar Verma vs Ministry Of Railways on 21 November, 2019
Author: Neeraj Kumar Gupta
Bench: Neeraj Kumar Gupta
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/MORLY/A/2018/119926
Prem Kumar Verma ... अपीलकता/Appellant
VERSUS
बनाम
CPIO, M/o. Railways, North East ... ितवादी/Respondent
Frontier Railway, Katihar.
Relevant dates emerging from the appeal:
RTI : 20-12-2017 FA : 06-02-2018 SA:27-03-2018
CPIO : 31-01-2018 FAO : Not on record Hearing: 19-11-2019
ORDER
1. The appellant filed an application under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) before the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), M/O. Railways, North East Frontier Railway, Katihar seeking following information about Mr. Omer Farooque, CCC, Katihar:-
1. "DOB and school leaving certificate.
2. Attendance register from 03.10.2017 to 19.12.2017.
3. Details of service records.
4. Details of departmental proceedings.
5. What are his educational qualifications? Provide a certified copy of his qualification.
6. Has he declared his assets, if so, specify the value."
2. The CPIO responded on 31-01-2018. The appellant filed the first appeal dated 06-02-2018 which was not disposed of by the first appellate authority.
Page 1 of 4Thereafter, he filed a second appeal u/Section 19(3) of the RTI Act before the Commission requesting to take appropriate legal action against the CPIO u/Section 20 of the RTI Act and also to direct him to provide the sought for information. Hearing:
3. The appellant, Mr. Prem Kumar Verma did not attend the hearing. Ms. Nidhi Kumari, CCI and Mr. Ajay Toppo, APO participated in the hearing representing the respondent through video conferencing. The written submissions are taken on record.
4. The respondent stated that the information sought by the appellant is a third party information exempted u/Section 8(1)(j) r/w Section 8(1)(e) of the RTI Act, 2005 and there is no involvement of any public interest in the matter. In this regard, they have already given a reply to the appellant vide their letter dated 31-
01-2018. The given reply was also read out by the respondent. Decision:
5. This Commission observed that the appellant has not established any larger public interest and therefore, the information pertaining to the date of birth, school leaving certificate and educational qualification of Mr. Omer Farooque is qualified as 'personal information' which cannot be provided to the appellant in terms of the principle laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in its order dated 06.08.2013 in the Civil Appeal No. 6362/2013 titled as UPSC v. Gourhari Kamila.
6. The details of the service records and assets of Mr. Omer Farooque are in the nature of 'personal information' which cannot be supplied to the appellant in the absence of any larger public interest. This position has also been upheld by the Hon'ble Bombay High Court vide its decision dated 22-08-2013 vide W.P. No. 1825 of 2013 in Subhash Bajirao Khemnar v. Shri Dilip Nayku Thorat & Others, wherein, it was observed as follows:-
"...that the Chief Information Commissioner was not justified in directing the Information Officer to supply personal information in respect of the service record, income tax returns and assets of the petitioner unless the Commissioner was satisfied that the disclosure of the information was justified in larger public interest."
7. Further, this Commission observed that the details of the departmental proceedings initiated against Mr. Omer Farooque cannot be shared with the appellant, as it is a matter between employer and employee covered by the ratio of Page 2 of 4 the judgment of Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in Girish Ramchandra Deshpande v. Central Information Commissioner &Ors., (2013) 1 SCC 212, wherein, it was observed as under:-
"13. We are in agreement with the CIC and the courts below that the details called for by the petitioner i.e. copies of all memos issued to the third respondent, show cause notices and orders of censure/punishment etc. are qualified to be personal information as defined in clause (j) of Section 8(1) of the RTI Act. The performance of an employee/officer in an organization is primarily a matter between the employee and the employer and normally those aspects are governed by the service rules which fall under the expression "personal information", the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or public interest."
8. With regard to the attendance records of Mr. Omer Farooque, this Commission observed that it is the duty of every public servant to attend the office on time and remain present during the working hours. The citizens have every right to check/know the attendance timings of public servants. The very purpose of RTI Act, 2005 is to ensure accountability of public servants and right of access to the citizens regarding the presence of the public servant in public office and it should be provided. The attendance details of public servant relate to public activity and hence cannot be denied to the appellant. In view of this, the respondent is directed to provide the attendance records of Mr. Omer Farooque to the appellant, as available in their records from 03.10.2017 to 19.12.2017, within a period of 15 days from the date of receipt of this order.
9. With the above observations, the appeal is disposed of.
10. Copy of the decision be provided free of cost to the parties.
नीरज कु मार गु ा)
Neeraj Kumar Gupta (नीरज ा
सूचना आयु )
Information Commissioner (सू
दनांक / Date 19-11-2019
Authenticated true copy
(अिभ मािणत स यािपत ित)
S. C. Sharma (एस. सी. शमा),
Dy. Registrar (उप-पंजीयक),
(011-26105682)
Page 3 of 4
Addresses of the parties:
1. The CPIO
M/o. Railways,
Sr. DCM & Nodal CPIO,
North East Frontier Railway,
DRM's Office, Katihar Division,
Katihar, Bihar-854105
2. Prem Kumar Verma
Page 4 of 4