Central Information Commission
Mr.D Dhamodaran vs Ut Of Pondicherry on 23 April, 2013
Central Information Commission
2nd Floor, August Kranti Bhawan,
Bhikaji Cama Place, New Delhi - 110 066
Website: www.cic.gov.in
No. CIC/SS/A/2011/001938
April 23, 2013
Name of Appellant : D. Damodaran, Cuddalore
Name of Respondent : IG Govt. General Hospital, Puducherry.
Date of hearing : 26.2.2013
ORDER
The appellant D. Damodaran has filed the present appeal before the Commission dated 23.4.2011 against the respondent Indira Gandhi Govt. General Hospital, Puducherry, for not providing information to his RTI application dated 7.10.2010. The hearing was held at Puducherry where both the appellant and the Resident Medical OfficerPIO were present.
2. The appellant through his RTI application dated 7.10.2010 has sought information from the PIO in the form of copy of (i) Accident Register, and (ii) wound certificate in respect of one Ramalingam s/o Murugan in order to assess the insurance claim. As per the appellant the named person was admitted in the hospital on 30.3.2009. The appellant, being an assessor appointed by the General Insurance Co. to verify the insurance claim by accident victims, has sought the information to assess the third party insurance claim so that the victimized persons are suitably compensated by the insurance company on the basis of his report.
3. The PIO in his reply to the appellant dated 19.11.2010 has informed him that "the information sought for mainly relates to medicolegal case' and in the said case, records as sought are usually furnished to the police authorities for investigation and for defending the case before the court. Further, if the information as sought by the applicant is provided it would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders involved in the case." The PIO has, therefore, invoked Section 8(1)(h) of the RTI Act for denying the information to the appellant. The appellant, therefore, filed first appeal before the appellate authority on 31.12.2010, who has also agreed with the stand taken by the PIO. Hence the appellant has preferred second appeal before the Commission.
4. On the other hand, during the hearing the appellant submits that he is an insurance claims investigator who investigates and submits report to insurance companies. The victims of road accidents file compensation claim before MACT against the insurance company and vehicle owner which is investigated by the appellant and based on his report the insurance companies file counter before MACT and prepare their defense before the court. For the purpose documents such as FIR, hospital accident register, wound certificate, motor vehicle inspection report, copy of vehicle RC, insurance certificate, driving license etc. are mandatory documents to proceed with the claim. For example, hospital accident register shows the cause of injury, based on which insurance company is able to decide their liability for road traffic accident caused by insured vehicle. He further claims that the Tamil Nadu Government Hospitals have been supplying the information under the RTI Act, 2005.
5. The submissions made by both parties were heard. In the first instance, the incident dates back to 20092010 and considerable time has been taken by the authorities for conducting investigation in the matter. Moreover, the respondent do not clarify how the information, if revealed, would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or psosecution of offenders. Hence, the Commission finds no reason to agree with the public authorities in withholding the information u/s 8(1)(h) of the RTI Act from the appellant even though it is third party information.
6. In view of the foregoing, the Commission directs the respondent CPIO to provide the information to the appellant, free of cost, within two weeks of receipt of the order.
(Sushma Singh) Information Commissioner Authenticated true copy:
( D.C. Singh ) Deputy Registrar To:
1. The Asst. Director & Public Information Officer Indira Gandhi Govt. General Hospital Puducherry.
2. The Medical Superintendent & Appellate Authority Indira Gandhi Govt. General Hospital Puducherry.
3. Shri D. Damodharan, No.1, Family Gardens, Nedunjalai Nagar Upstairs, Thirupapuliyur, Cudalore 607002.