Central Information Commission
Narendra Agarwal vs North Western Railway on 24 May, 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
िशकायत सं या / Complaint No. CIC/NWRLY/C/2017/604114
Narendra Agarwal ...िशकायतकता /Complainant
VERSUS
बनाम
1. CPIO, M/o. Railways, North ... ितवादीगण/Respondents
Western Railway, HQ, Jaipur.
2. CPIO, M/o. Railways, North Western
Railway, Railway Electrification, Jaipur.
Relevant dates emerging from the complaint:
RTI : 28-04-2017 FA : 12-06-2017 Complaint: 09-08-2017
CPIO : 31-05-2017 FAO : 06-07-2017 Hearing : 22-05-2019
ORDER
1. The complainant filed an application under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) before the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), M/O. Railways, North Western Railway, Jaipur seeking following information regarding the Bikaner division routes selected for the Railways Electrification (RE) works proposed & undertaken in the budget of the FY 2017-18:-
1. "Provide copy of note document/ necessity/ proposal/ Vision document for RE of Bikaner Division route under taken in budget of 2017-18.Page 1 of 4
2. Provide copy of calculation statement of projected RoR for proposed routes.
3. In case, the above urged information is not available, then please provide file copies of aforesaid RE projects."
2. The CPIO responded on 31-05-2017. The complainant filed the first appeal dated 12-06-2017 which was disposed of by the first appellate authority on 06-07- 2017. Thereafter, he filed a complaint u/Section 18 of the RTI Act before the Commission requesting to take appropriate legal action against the CPIO u/Section 20 of the RTI Act.
Hearing:
3. The complainant, Mr. Narendra Agarwal was not present despite notice. Mr. Mahesh Kumar Shrama, APIO/SPO participated in the hearing representing the respondent(s) through video conferencing.
4. The respondent(s) admitted their mistake for not providing the information to the complainant on point nos. 1 and 3 with reference to the RTI application.
Further, they informed the Commission that the RTI application also could not be transferred to the concerned CPIO. In this regard, they referred to Mr. Anupam Kumar, the concerned CPIO who did not provide the remaining information to the complainant. They also agreed to collect the information and provide it to the complainant as per the RTI Act, 2005, within a period of 15 days from the date of receipt of this order.
Decision:
5. This Commission observed that the representative of the respondent(s) representing the respondent(s) was not fully prepared for presenting the case before the Commission. Further, this Commission notes that the representative of the respondent(s) was not acquainted with the present case. The case should have been attended by the representatives who were aware of the subject matter. This Commission also observed that Mr. Anupam Kumar, the concerned CPIO has neither formally transferred the RTI application nor has endeavored to provide the remaining information to the complainant and thus, an absolute lack of sincerity is manifested from the conduct of the CPIO who has not complied with the provisions prescribed under the RTI Act, 2005. Therefore, this Commission imposes the penalty of Rs. 2,000/- on the concerned CPIO, Mr. Anupam Kumar who was incharge of the RTI application during the relevant period and has contravened the provisions of the RTI Act, 2005. The amount of Rs. 2,000/- shall be deducted by the Public Authority from his salary by way of demand draft drawn Page 2 of 4 in favour of "PAO, CAT", New Delhi and the demand draft should be forwarded to the Deputy Registrar (CR-II), email: [email protected] Room No. 106, First Floor, Central Information Commission, Baba Gangnath Marg, Munirka, New Delhi-110067. This demand draft of Rs. 2,000/- should reach the Commission by
21.06.2019.
6. With the above observations, the complaint is disposed of.
7. 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 22.05.2019
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, CESE & PIO/HQ,
North Western Railway, HQ Office,
Nr Jawahar Circle, Jaipur, Rajasthan-302017.
2. The CPIO, M/o. Railways, APIO/RE, North Western Railway, Railway Electrification, O/o. The Chief Project Director, Jaipur, Rajasthan-302006.
3. Mr. Narendra Agarwal Page 4 of 4