Central Information Commission
Anuj Kumar vs Chief Commissioner, Central Excise, ... on 27 March, 2026
के ीय सू चना आयोग
Central Information Commission
बाबा गंगनाथ माग, मुिनरका
Baba Gangnath Marg, Munirka
नई िद ी, New Delhi - 110067
File No: CIC/CCECN/A/2024/637846
Anuj Kumar .....अपीलकता/Appellant
VERSUS
बनाम
CPIO,
O/o the Principal Chief
Commissioner of GST and
Central Excise, GST Bhavan,
No. 121, Nungambakkam High
Road, Chennai - 600034 .... ितवादीगण /Respondent
Date of Hearing : 11.03.2026
Date of Decision : 27.03.2026
INFORMATION COMMISSIONER : Vinod Kumar Tiwari
Relevant facts emerging from appeal:
RTI application filed on : 07.03.2024
CPIO replied on : 04.04.2024
First appeal filed on : 01.05.2024
First Appellate Authority's order : 31.05.2024
2nd Appeal/Complaint dated : 26.08.2024
Information sought:
1. The Appellant filed an RTI application dated 07.03.2024 (online) seeking the following information:CIC/CCECN/A/2024/637846 Page 1 of 10
"It is submitted that I was transferred from ICD, Hosur (CCP, Trichy) to DG Systems, Chennai on a loan basis. After joining DG Systems Chennai, my Transfer TA benefits were disallowed by the CCA-Establishment Section vide File No.GCCO/CCA/Misc/37/2022-CCA-Estt. dated. 03.12.2023 & 30.01.2024 on the following reasons:
1. Officer has not completed his last place of posting tenure (ie., less than 4 years)
2. The officer transferred to PCCO (DGS, Chennai) at his request.
In this regard, please provide the following details:
1. Provide the existing policy/office orders/circulars related to Transfer TA benefits being transferred from the last place of posting on Promotion in the cadre of Group B & C officers of GST Zone, Tamil Nadu & Puducherry.
2. Please refer to the circular letter GCCO/CCA/MISC/10/2023-CCA-ESTT-
O/o Pr.CC-CGST-ZONE dated. 08.03.2023 (Annexure-C, Sl.No.11). As per the said circular and transfer policy 2022, Please inform me whether I have completed the prescribed tenure in CCP Zone Trichy (Group-VII) or not.
3. During the promotion of Group B & C officers, the Google link provided by the Department to the officers on promotion, for selecting their next place of posting, will be considered as "Willingness of the Officers" or not?
4. Please provide the policy/office order/circular which indicates that ICD, Hosur (CCP, Trichy) tenure is 4 years where I was posted.
5. Please provide me the list of officers transferred out of ICD, Hosur who have been drawn and disbursed the Transfer TA along with their period of tenure in ICD, Hosur for the last Eight years.
6. Please provide me the list of officers in the cadre of Inspector / Superintendent who have completed four years of tenure in ICD, Hosur to date.
7. Please provide me a copy of my transfer request to the Directorate, DG Systems, Chennai (on a loan basis) while working in ICD, Hosur (CCP, Trichy).
CIC/CCECN/A/2024/637846 Page 2 of 108. Please give me a copy of the transfer order / posting order conveying my non-entitlement of Transfer TA before my date of joining as "Superintendent" from ICD, Hosur to Directorate, DG Systems, Chennai (on a loan basis).
9. Please clarify whether posting to DGS, Chennai (on a loan basis) will be counted/considered as Group-I (Chennai Station) even if I don't apply for the posting to DG Systems, Chennai about Transfer Policy 2022 dt 20.05.2022, wherein it has been decided & conveyed by the Principal Chief Commissioner, the Cadre Controlling Authority, that the period spent on posting on a local rotational transfer basis to any directorates, in any group, will not be counted towards the computation of service in the Chennai or any other group.
10. Please provide the list of Officers who have been drawn and paid the Transfer TA within four years of the last place of posting for the last 2 years (2022 & 2023) station-wise & tenure-wise even though the officers submitted their willingness/place of posting on promotion from the cadre of Inspector to the cadre of Superintendent in GST Zone, Tamil Nadu & Puducherry.
11. Please provide the list of Officers who have been drawn and paid the Transfer TA on repatriation from deputation within four years of the period posted/deputed on deputation based on the officer's willingness called for by the department for the last 5 years (station-wise & tenure- wise) in the cadre of Group B & C officers of GST Zone, Tamil Nadu & Puducherry.
12. Since there is no direction of Transfer TA entitlement for the transferred officer in Order No.46/2023 dt.18.04.2023, based on this Order No.46/2023 dated 18.04.2023, kindly provide the following particulars:
Sl.no. Name of Tenure of the Whether Whether the whether the the last place eligible for officer Transfer TA officer posting before Transfer TA submitted any benefits were transferred to benefits or request for a drawn and the new place. not? place of posting disbursed to (in MM/YY) or not? officer or not?CIC/CCECN/A/2024/637846 Page 3 of 10
"
2. The CPIO furnished a point-wise reply to the Appellant on 04.04.2024 stating as under:
"Point (1) Grant of Travelling Allowance benefits in the case of transfers are governed by Supplementary Rules 114. There are connected statutory instructions on TA issued time to time by the Department of Expenditure and DoPT, Government of India, details of these are available in public domain including in www.dopt.circulars.nic.in, www.dopt.gov.in, https://doe.gov.in etc., you may access the same. These instructions are in general and not specific to the stations / Commissionerates /Zone so mentioned by you in you application.
Point (2) Circular/ Letter dated 08.03.2023 so mentioned in you Application is self explanatory. Further, it is informed that the public information officer is not supposed to interpret information or to furnish replies to the hypothetical questions raised by the RTI applicants. As per Section 2(f) of RTI Act, the information which exists with the Public Authority alone can be provided subject to restrictions under Section 8(1) of RTI Act, 2005 and no interpretation/clarification of any statutory instructions can be furnished as sought for by the Applicant Point (3)-Google link is provided during Annual General Transfer. It is considered as willingness of the officers. Further, it is informed that the PIO is not suppose to interpret information or to furnish replies to the hypothetical questions raised by the RTI applicants as clarified vide DOPT OM No. 1/4/2009-IR dated 05.10.2009.
Point (4) Please refer to the Board's letter F. No. A.35017/28/92-AD.III.B Dated 30.06.1994 in this regard (Copy Enclosed).
Point (5) and 6 - The subject RTI application has already been forwarded to the concerned Commissionerates under Section 6(3) of RTI Act for providing information or reply under RTI Act as the case may be, directly to the applicant.
Point (6) No such information is available with this Public Authority. It is informed that the information is not held by this public authority in the CIC/CCECN/A/2024/637846 Page 4 of 10 form in which the information is sought by the applicant. As per DoPT O.M.No.11/2/2008-IR dated 10.7.2008, citizen has a right to get material from a public authority which is held by or under the control of the public authority. Hence, it is informed that the sought for information is not readily available with the public authority to share with you under RTI Act since information is scattered in different forms are to be collected, collated etc., for which Public Authority, under whom this information is available, is required to divert their sources disproportionately from their regular work which is impermissible under section 7 (9) of the RTI Act, 2005. In view of the above, the CPIO herein is unable to provide the information which is sought in your application as in the format in your application. Not withstanding the above, you may seek these details from the concerned Commissionerate under which the above ICD Point (7) No such transfer request is received in this office. Further, one's own documents like your own request/letter cannot be sought under the RTI Act, 2005 as those documents cannot be brought under the definition "information" as defined under section 2(f) of the RTI Act, 2005 as it ahs been held in the catena of the decisions of the CIC, New Delhi and Hon'ble High Court of Madras dated 17.09.2014 in WP No. 26781/2013.
Point (8) Decision on the non entitlement of transfer TA in respect of Shri Anuj Kumar, Superintendent has been communicated vide this office letter F.No. GCCO/CCA/Misc/37/2022-CCA Estt dated 30.01.2024 addressed to the Additional Director, DG Systems, Chennai and the CAO, Chennai North i/e of Pr. CCO(Copy enclosed).
Point (9) The tenure in Directorate including DGS Chennai will be deducted from the total tenure while counting the tenure in the Group as per Transfer Policy 2022. Further, it is informed that the information sought is in the nature of seeking clarification. In view of DOPT OM No. 1/4/2009-IR dated 05.10.2009 the CPIO is not supposed to interpret information or to furnish replies to the hypothetical questions raised by the RTI applicants..
Point (10) The subject RTI application has already been forwarded to the concerned Commissionerates under Section 6(3) of RTI Act for providing information or reply under RTI Act, directly to the applicant.CIC/CCECN/A/2024/637846 Page 5 of 10
Point (11) The subject RTI application has already been forwarded to the concerned Commissionerates under Section 6(3) of RTI Act for providing information under RTI Act, directly to the applicant.
Point (12) The subject RTI application has already been forwarded to the concerned Commissionerates under Section 6(3) of RTI Act for providing information under RTI Act, directly to the applicant. However, it is informed that the information can be supplied under the Act which is /are already exists and is held by the Public Authority concerned and there is no obligation to the CPIO to create information or to interpret or to solve the problems raised by the applicants in view of guidelines issued by DOPT OM dated 05.10.2009."
3. Being dissatisfied, the Appellant filed a First Appeal dated 01.05.2024. The FAA vide its order dated 31.05.2024, held as under:
"6.1 I have carefully gone through the RTI application, reply given by CPIO, appeal filed by the appellant and the comments of CPIO.
6.2 It is seen that, in the RTI application dated 07.03.2024, the appellant stated that the transfer TA benefits were disallowed to him and the appellant sought for information regarding policy matters, transfer and postings of officers etc. as detailed above.
6.3 I find that, in respect of point numbers in said RTI appeal, Point No.1: The CPIO vide letter dated 04.04.2024 had rightly replied.
Point No.4: Already replied by CPIO vide letter dated 04.04.2024.
Point No. 5, 6, 10, 11 & 12: The appellant in his RTI appeal sought information which may require public authority to divert their sources disproportionately from their regular work which is impermissible under section 7(9) of RTI Act, 2005.
In this regard, instructions have also been issued by DoPT vide OM no. 11/2/2008-IR dated 10.07.2008, wherein it is stated that, "The Act, however, does not require the Public Information Officer to deduce some conclusion from the 'material' and supply the 'conclusion' CIC/CCECN/A/2024/637846 Page 6 of 10 so deduced to the applicant. The PIO is required to supply the 'material' in the form as held by the public authority and is not required to do research on behalf of the citizen to deduce anything from the material and then supply it to him."
Further, kind reference is also invited to the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the matter of CBSE vs. Aditya Bandopadhyay & Ors [CIVIL APPEAL NO.6454 OF 2011] wherein it is held that "The RTI Act provides access to all information that is available and existing. This is clear from a combined reading of section 3 and the definitions of information' and right to information' under clauses (f) and
(j) of section 2 of the Act. If a public authority has any information in the form of data or analysed data, or abstracts, or statistics, an applicant may access such information, subject to the 3 exemptions in section 8 of the Act. But where the information sought is not a part of the record of a public authority, and where such information is not required to be maintained under any law or the rules or regulations of the public authority, the Act does not cast an obligation upon the public authority, to collect or collate such non-available information and then furnish it to an applicant."
Point No.7: The Appellant submitted a application dated Nil requesting for posting to Chennai Station. The request of the Appellant was considered and subsequently the Order No. 38/2023 dated 01.04.2023 was modified and the Officer was posted from Trichy Customs to Pr. CCO (on loan basis to DG Systems, Chennai) at Chennai Station vide order No. 46/2023 dated 18.04.2023.
Further, one's own documents like your own request /letter cannot be sought under the RTI Act, 2005 as those documents cannot be brought under the definition "information" as defined under section 2(f) of the RTI Act, 2005 as it has been held in the catena of the decisions of the CIC, New Delhi and Hon'ble High Court of Madras dated 17.09.2014 in WP No. 26781/2013.
Point No. 8: This Office has issued only Promotion/Posting Orders. The entitlement will be decided on individual cases based on the eligibility condition and applicable rules. Hence, the question of conveying his non- entitlement of transfer TA in the relevant promotion & posting orders does not arise. Hence, no such document available to be furnished.
CIC/CCECN/A/2024/637846 Page 7 of 107. In view of the above, I proceed to pass the following order.
The appeal is reject as per the above findings."
4. Feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied, Appellant approached the Commission with the instant Second Appeal.
Relevant Facts emerged during Hearing:
The following were present:-
Appellant: Absent Respondent: Shri R. Gopal Krishnan, Assistant Commissioner/CPIO (In-charge), appeared through video conference.
5. Proof of having served a copy of Second Appeal/Complaint on Respondent while filing the same in CIC on 26.08.2024 is not available on record. The Respondent confirmed non-service. Thus, Regulation No. 10 of the Central Information Commission Management Regulations 2007 has not been complied with by the Appellant.
6. The Respondent while defending their case inter alia submitted that they had filed detailed written submissions dated 05.03.2026 disclosing complete facts of the case and requested the Commission to place the same on record. The relevant paras of the written submission are reproduced as under:
"2. The RTI Application dated 07.03.2024 was replied by this office on 04.04.2024 within the time prescribed under Section 7(1) of the RTI Act, 2005. The First Appeal dated 01.05.2024 was disposed by the First Appellate Authority on 31.05.2024.
3. The matter pertains to the appellant's grievance regarding detention of TA/DA claim. The said claim has since been sanctioned on 17.04.2025 and disbursed on 31.10.2025.CIC/CCECN/A/2024/637846 Page 8 of 10
4. It is informed that the appellant has submitted a written request dated 20.02.2026 before the Hon'ble Commission seeking withdrawal of the Second Appeal on the ground that the issue has been resolved.
5. In view of the above, it is requested that the appeal may kindly be treated as withdrawn and disposed of accordingly"
Decision:
7. The Commission after adverting to the facts and circumstances of the case, hearing the Respondent and perusal of the records, observes that a timely reply was furnished by the Respondent CPIO on 04.04.2024 and the First Appeal was duly adjudicated by the First Appellate Authority vide order dated 31.05.2024.
8. It is also noted that the grievance of the Appellant, relating to non- sanction of Transfer TA, has since been resolved, and the claim has been sanctioned on 17.04.2025 and disbursed on 31.10.2025. Most importantly, the Commission takes on record the written request dated 20.02.2026 submitted by the Appellant, wherein he has expressed his desire to withdraw the present Second Appeal on the ground that the issue stands resolved. In view of the above, the Commission finds no reason to proceed further in the matter.
The appeal is dismissed as withdrawn accordingly.
Sd/-
Vinod Kumar Tiwari (िवनोद कुमार ितवारी) Information Commissioner (सूचना आयु ) Authenticated true copy (अिभ मािणत स ािपत ित) Sd/-
(S. Anantharaman) Dy. Registrar 011- 26181927 Date CIC/CCECN/A/2024/637846 Page 9 of 10 Copy To:
The FAA, O/o the Principal Chief Commissioner of GST and Central Excise, GST Bhavan, No. 121, Nungambakkam High Road, Chennai - 600034 CIC/CCECN/A/2024/637846 Page 10 of 10 Recomendation(s) to PA under section 25(5) of the RTI Act, 2005:-
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