Central Information Commission
Mr.Bhakthavastchalam Md vs Department Of Atomic Energy on 19 April, 2012
CENTRAL INFORMATION COMMISSION
Club Building (Near Post Office)
Old JNU Campus, New Delhi - 110067
Tel: +91-11-26161796
Decision No. CIC/SG/A/2012/000532/18489
Appeal No. CIC/SG/A/2012/000532
Relevant Facts emerging from the Appeal:
Appellant : Mr. Bhakthavastchalam. M.D
I.C. No.- 433
Jr. Purchase Assistance
MRPU, DPS, DAE, CHENNAI- 600006
Respondent (1) : Mr. A. S. L. K. Rao
PIO & Regional Director Department of Atomic Energy MRPU, DPS, DAE.
CHENNAI- 600006 (2) Ms. Latika Goyal PIO & Chief Administrative Officer Department of Atomic Energy Directorate of Purchase and Stores (Mumbai) Vikram Sara Bhai Bhawan, Anushakti Nagar, Mumbai - 4000094 RTI application filed on : 15/11/2011 PIO replied : 08/12/2011 First Appeal : 02/01//2012 First Appellate Authority order : 25/01/2012 Second Appeal received on : 10/02/2012 The Appellant had sought information regarding the Numerical Grading in APAR in the last Financial Year (01-04-20 10 to 31-03-2011) in Directorate of Purchase & Stores.
Sl. Information Sought Reply 1 Please define the term "Performance" Information not available on definition of according to APAR? "Performance" in AFAR.
2. What are the" Performance" are expected from The new Annual Performance Appraisal Report the Employee for grading as "Outstanding" in (APAR) system has introduced numerical grading the APAR? between I and 10 to assess the work output. As to how the grading are arrived at information is available at website www.persmin.nic.in -DoPT-OMs & Orders-Establishment-ACR
3. What are the eligibility criteria to obtain the The new Annual Performance Appraisal Report grade "outstanding" in the APAR in DPS? (APAR) system has introduced numerical grading between I and 10 to assess the work output. As to how the grading are arrived at information is available at website www.persmin.nic.in -DoPT-OMs & Orders-Establishment-ACR Page 1 of 4
4. How many Employees in DPS (unit-wise) are Denied under Section 8(1 )(J) of RTI Act, 2005 graded "Outstanding" in the APAR in the last Financial Year (01-04-2010 to 31-03-2011)?
5. What are the "Performance" are expected from The new Annual Performance Appraisal Report the Employee for grading "Very Good" in the (APAR) system has introduced numerical grading APAR? between I and 10 to assess the work output. As to how the grading are arrived at information is available at website www.persmin.nic.in -DoPT-OMs & Orders-Establishment-ACR
6. How many Employees (unit-wise) are graded Denied under Section 8(1 )(J) of RTI Act, 2005 as "Very Good" in the APAR in the last Financial Year (01-04-2010 to 31-03-2011) in DPS?
7. What are the " Performance" are expecting The new Annual Performance Appraisal Report from the Employee for grading as "Good " in (APAR) system has introduced numerical grading the between I and 10 to assess the work output. As to APAR? how the grading are arrived at information is available at website www.persmin.nic.in -DoPT-OMs & Orders-Establishment-ACR
8. How many Employees (unit-wise) are awarded Denied under Section 8(1 )(J) of RTI Act, 2005 as "Good" in the APAR in the last Financial Year (01-04-2010 to 31-03-2011) in DPS2
9. How many Employees (unit-wise) are not Employees unit wise not entitled for PRIS(G) for 201 benefited under the Performance Relative 0-1 1 Incentive Scheme (Croup) in the last Financial DPS (Mum)- 18 SU (Talcher)- 01 Year (01-04-2010 to 31-03-2011) in CRSU (Kol)- 01 RMP (Mysore)- 01 Directorate of Purchase & Stores? StJ (Manuguru)- 04 HRSIJ (Hyd)- 05 RPUM (Hyd)- 01 10 Whether the employee scored 9 will only be Empanelment for promotion is not only based on . taken into account for calculating average APAR grading but also performance in written scores for empanelment/promotion as per examination, if any, interview etc. As far as APAR guidelines?. If so, what is the position promotion on SCF basis, the candidate has to meet of employee awarded/scored 7, whether he/she the bench mark set for the concerned post. will be considered for empanelment/promotion or not?
11 In MRPU/MRAU, whose decision is final in It is reviewed by the Reviewing officer, whose . grading the APAR? decision is final.
12 What is the weight age given in DPS to the self The applicant has asked a Question and no . appraisal report furnished by the employees information is available in this respect hence not while grading APAR by reporting/reviewing furnished. officers and in what way it is helpful to employees to expose their duties discharged?
Grounds for the First appeal:
Unsatisfactory reply to the query no. 1 stating the non-availability of information in respect definition of term "performance" according to APAR, Query no 2 & 3 is being deviated referring the DoPT website which is not acceptable.
Order of the FAA:
FAA ordered that the no change in needed in answers except query reply 2, 3,5 & 7, where a copy of guidelines regarding filling of numerical grading is enclosed with.Page 2 of 4
Grounds for the Second Appeal:
Incomplete misleading and unsatisfactory reply provided by the FAA.
Relevant Facts emerging during Hearing:
The following were present Appellant: Mr. Bhakthavastchalam. M.D on video conference from NIC-Chennai Studio; Respondent (1): Mr. A. S. L. K. Rao, PIO & Regional Director on video conference from NIC-Chennai; Respondent (2): Ms. Latika Goyal, PIO & Chief Administrative Officer on video conference from NIC-
Mumbai Studio;
The PIO has denied information with respect to queries 04, 06 & 08 claiming exemption under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act. The Appellant had only sought the number of officers in each grade and not even the names or any particular information. The PIO has erred in applying for exemption under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act and is warned to apply her mind carefully before denying the information.
Under Section 8 (1) (j) information which has been exempted is defined as: "information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information:"
To qualify for this exemption the information must satisfy the following criteria:
1. It must be personal information.
Words in a law should normally be given the meanings given in common language. In common language we would ascribe the adjective 'personal' to an attribute which applies to an individual and not to an Institution or a Corporate. From this it flows that 'personal' cannot be related to Institutions, organisations or corporates. Hence Section 8 (1) (j) cannot be applied when the information concerns institutions, organisations or corporates.
The phrase 'disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest' means that the information must have been given in the course of a Public activity. Various Public authorities in performing their functions routinely ask for 'personal' information from Citizens, and this is clearly a public activity. When a person applies for a job, or gives information about himself to a Public authority as an employee, or asks for a permission, licence or authorisation, all these are public activities. Also when a Citizen provides information in discharge of a statutory obligation this too is a public activity.
We can also look at this from another aspect. The State has no right to invade the privacy of an individual. There are some extraordinary situations where the State may be allowed to invade the privacy of a Citizen. In those circumstances special provisions of the law apply;- usually with certain safeguards. Therefore where the State routinely obtains information from Citizens, this information is in relationship to a public activity and will not be an intrusion on privacy.
Certain human rights such as liberty, freedom of expression or right to life are universal and therefore would apply uniformly to all human beings worldwide. However, the concept of 'privacy' is a cultural notion, related to social norms, and different societies would look at these differently. Therefore referring to the UK Data protection act or the laws of other countries to define 'privacy' cannot be considered a valid exercise to constrain the Citizen's fundamental Right to Information in India. Parliament has not codified the right to privacy so far, hence in balancing the Right to Information of Citizens and the individual's Right to Privacy the Citizen's Right to Information would be given greater weightage. The Supreme Court of India has ruled that Citizens have a right to know about charges against candidates for elections as well as details of their assets, since they desire to offer themselves for public service. It is Page 3 of 4 obvious then that those who are public servants cannot claim exemption from disclosure of charges against them or details of their assets. Given our dismal record of misgovernance and rampant corruption which colludes to deny Citizens their essential rights and dignity, it is in the fitness of things that the Citizen's Right to Information is given greater primacy with regard to privacy.
In view of this the Commission does not uphold the exemption claimed for the PIO under Section 8(1)(j).
Decision:
The Appeal is allowed.
The PIO is directed to provide the information on queries 04, 06 & 08 as per available records to the Appellant before 15 May 2012. 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 April 2012 (In any correspondence on this decision, mention the complete decision number.)(SS) Page 4 of 4