Central Information Commission
Niraj Mishra vs Western Railway Mumbai on 22 January, 2026
के ीयसू चनाआयोग
Central Information Commission
बाबागंगनाथमाग, मुिनरका
Baba Gangnath Marg, Munirka
नईिद ी, New Delhi - 110067
File No: CIC/WRAIL/A/2024/624142
Niraj Mishra .....अपीलकता/Appellant
VERSUS
बनाम
CPIO,
Western Railway,
O/o CMS,
Medical Branch, DMR office,
Mumbai Central-400008 .... ितवादीगण /Respondent
Date of Hearing : 22.01.2026
Date of Decision : 22.01.2026
INFORMATION COMMISSIONER : Swagat Das
Relevant facts emerging from appeal:
RTI application filed on : 06.03.2024
CPIO replied on : 19.03.2024
First appeal filed on : 12.04.2024
First Appellate Authority's order : 24.04.2024
2nd Appeal/Complaint dated : 06.07.2024
Information sought:
1. The Appellant filed an RTI application dated 06.03.2024(offline) seeking the following information:
"Please provide following information
1. Daywise dispensing and pharmacist wise means number of patients to whom medicine dispensed by Pharmacist during month February 2024 at sub-Divisional railway hospital valsad
2. Average dispensing by pharmacist Niraj Mishra during February -2024.Page 1 of 9
3. Number of indents daywise with Name of Pharmacist during Month February -2024 at sub-Divisional railway hospital valsad.
4. Railway board letter/rules allowing Dr Sanjay Patidar and Matron Petrishia to force Pharmacist and blackmailing for railway service benefits.
5 Railway board letter/rules allowing CMS-MMCT to support blackmailing and bargaining for railway service benifits
6. Railway board letter/rules prohibiting Shri Niraj Mishra for not to make written complaint in complaint register at Office of CMS/BL and then forcing him to take half day CL
7. Railway board letter/rules allowing ADMO-BL and Matron Petrishia to keep attendance register under their Custody without in front of CCTV camera and reporting wrong data to CMS-MMCT and blindly accepting such data by CMS-MMCT
8. Steps measures taken regarding safety of Pharmacist at SDH-BL
9. Railway board letter/rules allowing CMS-MMCT to no action against ADMO-BL and Matron Petrishia who never take any action against unauthorized entries in dispensary of SDH-BL rather support unauthorised entries in dispensary keeping safety of Pharmacist in danger of sub-divisional railway hospital valsad.
10. Railway board letter/rules prohibiting CMS-MMCT to install AEBS attendance system in Sub-Divisional railway hospital valsad allowing ADMO/BL and Matron Petrishia to report attendance data as per their wish and accepting such data by CMS-MMCT
11. Railway board letter/rules allowing CMS-MMCT to delay installation of AEBS attendance system in Sub-Divisional railway hospital valsad"
2. The CPIO furnished a reply to the Appellant on 19.03.2024 stating as under:
Sr. No Information sought Information furnished 1 Daywise dispensing and pharmacist Mr. Niraj mishra is a wise means number of patients to pharmacist in SDH/BL whom medicine dispensed by who is allotted only Page 2 of 9 Pharmacist during month February dispensing works and 2024 at sub-Divisional railway he has online ID for the hospital valsad same work. All data are available online and accessible to all pharmacist.
2 Average dispensing by pharmacist Mr. Niraj mishra is a Niraj Mishra during February - pharmacist in SDH/BL 2024. who is allotted only dispensing works and he has online ID for the same work. All data are available online and accessible to all pharmacist.
3 Number of indents daywise with No such kind of data Name of Pharmacist during Month maintained at store February -2024 at sub-Divisional SDH/BL.
railway hospital valsad.
4 Railway board letter/rules No such letter is allowing Dr Sanjay Patidar and available in this office Matron Petrishia to force Pharmacist and blackmailing for railway service benefits.
5 Railway board letter/rules allowing No such kind of letter is CMS-MMCT to support available.
blackmailing and bargaining for railway service benifits 6 Railway board letter/rules This hospital is under prohibiting Shri Niraj Mishra for not surveillance of CCTV. to make written complaint in complaint register at Office of CMS/BL and then forcing him to take half day CL 7 Railway board letter/rules allowing No such data is ADMO-BL and Matron Petrishia to available in this office. keep attendance register under their Custody without in front of Page 3 of 9 CCTV camera and reporting wrong data to CMS-MMCT and blindly accepting such data by CMS-MMCT 8 Steps measures taken regarding This hospital is under safety of Pharmacist at SDH-BL surveillance of CCTV.
9 Railway board letter/rules allowing No such letter is CMS-MMCT to no action against available in this office ADMO-BL and Matron Petrishia who never take any action against unauthorized entries in dispensary of SDH-BL rather support unauthorised entries in dispensary keeping safety of Pharmacist in danger of sub-divisional railway hospital valsad 10 Railway board letter/rules No such letter is prohibiting CMS-MMCT to install available in this office AEBS attendance system in Sub-
Divisional railway hospital valsad allowing ADMO/BL and Matron Petrishia to report attendance data as per their wish and accepting such data by CMS-MMCT 11 Railway board letter/rules No such letter is allowing CMS-MMCT to delay available in this office installation of AEBS attendance system in Sub-Divisional railway hospital valsad"
3. The Appellant filed a First Appeal dated 12.04.2024. The FAA order is on 24.04.2024 stated as under:
"Decision:
After going through the appellant's appeal, Appellate Authority holds that:Page 4 of 9
As per section 2(f) of Right To Information Act, 2005 only such information is required to be supplied under the act which exists in material form. The PIO is not supposed to create information or to interpret information.
RTI Application & RTI Appeal Application of Shri Niraj along with the remarks/information provided by PIO & ACMS(A) vide letter no. MD/RTI/13/2024 dated 18.03.2024-MMCT were scrutinizes and Observed that appellant raised appeal on the ground that "Provided incomplete, misleading or false information"
In this case, it appears that the pointwise information was provided to the appellant within the time limit and as per the provision of RTI Act 2005 The information sought by the appellant are compliant /grievance in nature. The Right to Information (RTI) Act is intended to promote transparency and accountability in government functions by providing citizens with access to information held by public authorities. It is not meant to be a mechanism for resolving grievances or disputes.
If the information sought by the appellant pertains to a complaint or grievance, it would be more appropriate for them to follow the established grievance redressal mechanisms within the relevant government department or agency. These mechanisms are designed to address complaints and disputes in a more comprehensive and specific manner.
Therefore, the appellant should consider seeking resolution of their complaint through the appropriate grievance redressal forum rather than through the RTI Act. This will ensure that their concerns are addressed in a timely and effective manner.
Moreover, PIO Additional Chief Medical Superintendent (A), Mumbai Central is hereby directed to re- examine the case in detail and provide the desired information for as asked by the appellant in his initial as well as in appeal application, if available in material form; in accordance with the provision of RTI Act, 2005 within 15 days from receipt of this decision."
4. Feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied, Appellant approached the Commission with the instant Second Appeal.
Relevant Facts emerged during Hearing:
Page 5 of 9The following were present:-
Appellant: Present through Video-Conference.
Respondent: Dr. Sonali Ghumre, Additional Chief Medical Superintendent present through audio-conference as the NIC studio was not available at given time.
5. Proof of having served a copy of Second Appeal on Respondent while filing the same in CIC on 06.07.2024 is not available on record. Respondent confirms non-service.
6. Written submissions of the Appellant and the Respondent are taken on record.
7. The Appellant, during the hearing, reiterated the contents of his RTI application, instant appeal and his written submissions and submitted that till date complete and correct information has not been provided to him by the Respondent. He stated that false and misleading information has been provided to him by the Respondent on point Nos. 1 and 2 of the RTI application. He further contended that the PIO has also not complied with the directions given by the FAA.
8. The Respondent while defending their case inter alia submitted that vide their letter dated 19.03.2024, complete point-wise reply/information, as per the documents available on record has been provided to the Appellant. The Respondent submitted that no such records/documents are available in their record w.r.t information sought by the Appellant on point Nos. 4, 5, 9 to 11 of the RTI application.
9. Upon being queried by the Commission w.r.t vague response given on point Nos. 1 and 2 of the RTI application and regarding non-compliance of FAA order, the Respondent has no plausible explanation in this regard.
Decision:
10. The Commission, after adverting to the facts and circumstances of the case, hearing both the parties and perusal of the records, observed that the queries raised by the Appellant on point Nos. 4, 5, 9 and 11 of the instant RTI Application is speculative in nature and in the form of leading Page 6 of 9 questions, therefore, reply from the PIO claiming non-availability of such records is in consonance with the provisions of the RTI Act. It is pertinent to mention that the Appellant has sought the copy of rules/policy from the Respondent in a manner favorable to him and has framed RTI questions in a manner to trick the Respondent Public Authority. Therefore, the Respondent's submission that no such information/ document exists is appropriate.
11. In this regard, the Commission at the outset would like to invite the attention of the parties towards a decision passed by the Commission on 24.01.2024 in a case of Nandkishor Gupta vs. North Western Railway, bearing File No. CIC/NWRLY/A/2023/600344 & anr. regarding the misuse of the RTI Act by the Appellant, with the following observations :
"...The Appellant has framed RTI questions in a manner to trick the Respondent Public Authority into admitting, without due inquiry, allegations of having wrongfully favoured a few other employees vis-à-vis the Appellant. Obviously, the CPIO reply stated 'no such information/ document exists'. Then, the Appellant is aggrieved because the information sought by him has not been given to him. His shenanigan needs to be dwelled upon to bring clarity regarding responsibility of applicant seeking information under RTI Act.
During the hearing, Appellant attempted to reframe his request into supplying list of recently promoted employees and the financial benefits granted to them. It may not be out of place to mention that the Appellant cannot reframe or rephrase his queries at the Appellate stage.
It is noted that the Appellant is a serving government employee under the Respondent Public Authority. Therefore, while taking recourse to the RTI Act for his service-related matters, the Appellant is expected to approach the Public Authorities with clean hands. Under the provisions of the RTI Act, while the CPIO/PIO is obliged to facilitate free flow of information to the citizen, it is equally incumbent upon the information seeker to put his/her application in the simplest form possible so that CPIO/PIO can understand the request unambiguously. The Commission is also mindful of the fact that the unenviable noble duty assigned under the RTI Act to Central Public Information Officers (CPIO) and First Appellate Authorities (FAA) by the respective Public Authorities is 'in addition to Page 7 of 9 their normal duties and without any additional remuneration paid for the same' for which they must devote extra efforts, time, and energy.
The Appellant being a serving employee of the respondent Public Authority has as much right to information as is available to any other citizen of India. However, such a serving employee has an added obligation to frame the request in simplest and most easily understood form possible because he/she knows the circumstances under which his/her colleagues are working while also discharging the additional duty as CPIO and FAA. Therefore, the conduct of the Appellant in the present matter, to say the least, is questionable and is not appreciated.
Accordingly, the appellant is cautioned and admonished wherein he should keep in mind that the RTI Act should be used judiciously, sensibly and responsibly so that purpose of the RTI Act would not be defeated. The Commission leaves it to the concerned disciplinary authority for any consequent action in the matter..."
12. Under the provisions of the RTI Act, while the CPIO/PIO is obliged to facilitate free flow of information to the citizen, it is equally incumbent upon the information seeker to put his/her application in the simplest form possible so that CPIO/PIO can understand the request unambiguously. The Commission is also mindful of the fact that the unenviable noble duty assigned under the RTI Act to Central Public Information Officers (CPIO) and First Appellate Authorities (FAA) by the respective Public Authorities is 'in addition to their normal duties and without any additional remuneration paid for the same' for which they must devote extra efforts, time, and energy.
13. W.r.t point Nos. 1 and 2 of the RTI application, the Commission observes that the Appellant has sought specific information, but the response given by the Respondent is vague and misleading. The information sought should have been available with their Data Centre. Further, there is nothing on record to show that PIO has complied with the directions given by the FAA. This is a serious lapse on the part of the Respondent. In view of this, the Respondent is directed to be cautious in future and ensure that such lapses do not recur.
Page 8 of 914. Since, much time has now elapsed, the Respondent is directed to take assistance under Section 5(4) of the RTI Act from the concerned PIO w.r.t the information sought on point Nos. 1 and 2 of the RTI application as per the documents available on record and provide revised reply/information to the Appellant, free of cost, within four weeks from the date of receipt of this order, through speed post.
15. The FAA is directed to ensure compliance of this order.
The appeal is disposed of accordingly.
Sd/-
Swagat Das ( ागत दास) Information Commissioner (सू चनाआयु ) Authenticated true copy (अिभ मािणतस ािपत ित) (Archana Srivastva) Dy. Registrar 011-26107040 Copy To:
The FAA, Western Railway, O/o CMS, Medical Branch, DMR office, Mumbai Central-400008 Niraj Mishra Page 9 of 9 Recomendation(s) to PA under section 25(5) of the RTI Act, 2005:-
Nil Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)