Central Information Commission
Seema Singhal vs Gnctd on 4 December, 2024
के ीय सूचना आयोग
Central Information Commission
बाबा गंगनाथ माग, मुिनरका
Baba Gangnath Marg, Munirka
नई िद ी, New Delhi - 110067
File No : CIC/GNCTD/C/2023/133799
Seema Singhal ....िशकायतकता /Complainant
VERSUS
बनाम
PIO,
Department of Health & Family Welfare,
9th Level, A - Wing, Delhi Secretariat,
New Delhi - 110002
2. The PIO
Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital,
Khichdipur, Delhi - 110091 .... ितवादीगण /Respondent
Date of Hearing : 19.11.2024
Date of Decision : 03.12.2024
INFORMATION COMMISSIONER : Vinod Kumar Tiwari
Relevant facts emerging from complaint:
RTI application filed on : 03.06.2023
CPIO replied on : 04.07.2023, 05.07.2023, 10.07.2023,
19.06.2023, 28.06.2023
First appeal filed on : 10.07.2023
First Appellate Authority's order : Not on record
2nd Appeal/Complaint dated : 08.08.2023
Page 1 of 8
Information sought:
The Complainant filed an (offline) RTI application dated 03.06.2023 seeking the following information:
"Please provide the information with respect to the following hospitals under GNCTD from 01-01-2014 till date of filing of RTI:
1. Aruna Asif Ali Hospital, Civil Lines.
2. Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya Hospital, Malviya Nagar
3. Dr. N.C. Joshi Memorial Hospital, Karol Bagh
4. Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital, Khichripur
5. Super Speciality Hospital, Janak Puri A. Please provide the information of the names of Medical Superintendents (MS) along with the tenure from 01-01-2014 till date of filing of RTI.
Please provide the certified copy of the same.
B. Please provide the information as to whether MS are entitled to official/govt. provided vehicle. Please provide the certified copy of the office order.
C. If reply to question "B" is yes, then please provide the information as to whether MS can also claim transport allowance and conveyance allowance for personal car despite already provided official/govt. provided vehicle. Please provide the certified copy of the office order. D. Please provide the information regarding the release of amount of transport allowance to each MS in their tenure from 01-01-2014 till date of filing of RTI. Please provide the certified copy of the salary slips/accounts of the same.
E. Please provide the information with respect to number of vehicles deployed for the hospital duty round the clock including ambulances from 01-01-2014 till date of filing of RTI. Please provide the certified copy of the same.
F. Please provide the information with respect to total number of drivers deployed for the hospital duty round the clock including ambulances from 01-01-2014 till date of filing of RTI. Please provide the certified copy of the same.
G. Please provide the information with respect to whether the MS has used the Official/govt. provided vehicle during their tenure from 01-01-2014 till date of filing of RTI? Please provide the certified copy of the same. H. Please provide the information with respect to whether any of the MS has waived off his/her right to use the official/govt. provided vehicle from 01-01-2014 till date of filing of RTI. If yes, then please provide the Page 2 of 8 letter to competent authority. Please provide the certified copy of the same.
I. Please provide the information as to whether MS can use the official/govt. provided vehicle for personal transport. If yes, then any application is made for the use of official/govt. provided vehicle for personal transport. Please provide the copy of the office order. J. Please provide the information with respect to the Names of MS's who have received Transport Allowance in his /her tenure as MS from 01-01- 2014 till date of filing of RTI. Please provide the certified copy of the salary slips.
K. Please provide the information regarding whether any of the MS has filled any requisite form to claim conveyance allowance. If yes, then please provide the copy of the form and also mention the release of amount to each MS in their tenure from 01- 01-2014 till date of filing of RTI. Please provide the certified copy of the accounts of the same. L. Please provide the information with respect to the Names of MS's who have received Conveyance Allowance in his/her tenure as MS for own Personal car from 01-01-2014 till date of filing of RTI. Please provide the certified copy of the same.
M. Please provide the information with respect to the whether MS can use official/govt. provided vehicle/govt. provided vehicle and still can draw transport allowance with salary and conveyance allowance for personal car. Please provide the office order to the same. N. Please provide the information with respect to the whether if any Medical superintendent(s) has received Transport Allowance Or Conveyance Allowance for personal Car Or Both these Allowances on regular basis. Please provide the certified copy of the month wise release of the allowances in their precise tenure from 01.01.2014 to till date of filing of RTI O. Please provide the information with respect to the whether if any Medical superintendent(s) has received Transport Allowance Or Conveyance Allowance for personal Car Or Both these Allowances intermittently. Please provide the certified copy of the month wise release of the allowances in their precise tenure from 01.01.2014 to till date of filing of RTI."
The CPIO furnished a reply to the complainant on 04.07.2023 stating as under:
"With reference to your RTI application duly forwarded by Section Officer (RTI) L.O., Health & Family Welfare Department Govt. of NCT of Delhi vide letter No. 15218- 223 dated 07.06.2023 under Right to Information Act, 2005. The same has been received in this office vide Dy. No. 5391 Page 3 of 8 dated 10.06.23. As desired, the relevant information received from In-
charge (Transport) vide letter no. 4978 dated 19.06.23, Section Officer vide letter No. 5196 dated 28.06.23 and Sr. Account Officer dated 14.06.23 are being forwarded to you for information."
The I/C Transport Officer, LBS Hospital furnished a response to PIO, LBS Hospital on 19.06.2023 stating as under:
"A: Not pertain to Transport Department B. Not pertain to Transport Department C. Not pertain to Transport Department D. Not pertain to Transport Department E. LBS Hospital has Two Ambulance
1. DL1A-2489(Maruti EECO Ambulance) Modal2012.
2. DL1A3262 (TATA Winger Ambulance) Modal 2022. Both are being used for Transport patient.
3. LBS Hospital has One Staff car also DL7Ck-5070 (ambassador) Modal 2010.
This is Used by all officers/official for official works. F. LBS Hospital has five drives currently who is deployed for ambulance/staff car round clock.
G. Staff car iş being Used by all officers/official including M.S for official works. Since daily vehicle log book of last ten years is in around more than thousand pages so kindly Visit Hospital to check daily log Book of Vehicles.
H. Not pertain to Transport Department I. No, cannot use staff car. J. Not pertain to Transport Department K. Not pertain to Transport Department L. Not pertain to Transport Department M. Not pertain to Transport Department N. Not pertain to Transport Department Ο. Not pertain to Transport Department"
The Section Officer, LBS Hospital furnished a response to PIO, LBS Hospital on 28.06.2023 stating as under:
"A Dr. Adarsh Kumar from 30.06.2012 to 05.02.2014 Dr. Amita Saxena from 05.02.2014 to 30.09.2020 Dr. Sushil Kumar from 01.10.2020 to 28.10.2020 Dr. Harish Mansukhani from 29.10.2020 to 16.04.2021 Dr. Sanjay Agrawal from 16.04.2021 to 06.04.2023 Page 4 of 8 F Total no. of drivers in this hospital is five.
H Does not pertains to this branch. K As per record available in this branch, currently, Dr. Sanjay Agrawal has
filled requisite form to claim conveyance allowance. L As per record available in this branch, latest sanction order for claim of conveyance allowance had been issued in r/o Dr. Sanjay Agrawal.
N Does not pertain to this branch"
The PIO, Janakpuri Super speciality Hospital has given point-wise reply/information to the Complainant vide letter dated 05.07.2023.
The PIO, Madan Mohan Malviya Hospital has given point-wise reply/information to the Complainant vide letter dated 10.07.2023.
Being dissatisfied, the complainant filed a First Appeal dated 10.07.2023. The FAA order is not on record.
Feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied, complainant approached the Commission with the instant Complaint.
Relevant Facts emerged during Hearing:
The following were present:-
Complainant: Present in person.
Respondent: Shri B.M. Pant, Private Secretary & PIO, LBS Hospital, Dr. Mala Vinayak, SPL (Micro) & PIO, Pt. MMM Hospital and Ms. Shailja, SO & APIO, AAAGH present in person.
Written submissions of CPIO, Lal Bahadur Shashtri Hospital are taken on record.
The Complainant, during the hearing, reiterated the contents of his RTI application and instant appeal and submitted that she is not satisfied with the response given by the CPIOs on her RTI application.Page 5 of 8
The Respondents while defending their case inter-alia submitted that vide their letters dated 04.07.2023, 05.07.2023, 10.07.2023, 19.06.2023, 28.06.2023, complete point-wise reply/information, as per the documents available on their record has been provided to the Complainant.
The Respondent, LBS Hospital, during the hearing, handed over a copy of their latest written submissions to the Complainant in the form of revised reply. Decision:
The Commission based on a perusal of the facts on record observes that the core contention raised by the Complainant in the instant Complaint were non- receipt of complete and satisfactory information from the Respondents. In this regard, it was noteworthy that an appropriate point-wise reply/information by the Respondents has been provided vide letters dated 04.07.2023, 05.07.2023, 10.07.2023, 19.06.2023, 28.06.2023 as per the provisions of the RTI Act.
Now at the stage of complaint, the Respondent, LBS Hospital has submitted their revised comments on the RTI application of the Complainant.
Further, the said written submissions of the Respondent are being treated as a revised reply to the instant RTI application which was handed over to the Complainant during the hearing.
The Commission observed that the Respondents have provided factual position to the Complainant on her RTI application as per the documents available on record.
Now, being Complaint filed under Section 18 of the RTI Act, the facts of the case do not warrant any action under Section 18(2) of the RTI Act against the CPIO as it does not bear any mala fides or an intention to deliberately obstruct the access to information as alleged by the Complainant. Here, it is relevant to quote a judgment of the Hon'ble Delhi High Court in the matter of Registrar of Companies & Ors v. Dharmendra Kumar Garg & Anr. [W.P.(C) 11271/2009] dated 01.06.2012 wherein it was held:
" 61. It can happen that the PIO may genuinely and bonafidely entertain the belief and hold the view that the information sought by the querist cannot be Page 6 of 8 provided for one or the other reasons. Merely because the CIC eventually finds that the view taken by the PIO was not correct, it cannot automatically lead to issuance of a show cause notice under Section 20 of the RTI Act and the imposition of penalty. The legislature has cautiously provided that only in cases of mala fides or unreasonable conduct, i.e., where the PIO, without reasonable cause refuses to receive the application, or provide the information, or knowingly gives incorrect, incomplete or misleading information or destroys the information, that the personal penalty on the PIO can be imposed...."
The Commission further observed that the Complainant has filed complaint before the Commission under Section 18 of the RTI Act and the Commission, at this stage, cannot direct the Respondent to provide information at the stage of adjudicating the complaint.
The Commission further referred to the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Chief Information Commissioner and another Vs. State of Manipur & Another reported in MANU/SC/1484/2011 : AIR 2012 SC 864; wherein their Lordships have held that "the remedy for a person who had sought information and was refused information, was to make an appeal under Section 19 of the RTI Act. Their Lordships have held that the nature of power under Section 18 of the Act is supervisory in character whereas the procedure under Section 19 is an appellate procedure and a person who is aggrieved by refusal in receiving the information which he has sought for can only seek redressed in the manner provided in the statute, namely, by following the procedure under Section 19. Section 7 read with Section 19 provides a complete statutory mechanism to a person who is aggrieved by refusal to receive information. Such person has to get the information by following the aforesaid statutory provisions. Sections 18 and 19 of the Act, serve two different purposes and lay down two different procedures and provide two different remedies. One cannot be a substitute for the other. While holding so, the Hon'ble Supreme Court has clarified the position that an appeal under Section 18 of the Act cannot be filed before the Chief Information Officer. In the instant case, a complaint is filed under Section 18(1) of the Act. In the light of the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court, the complaint made by the second respondent herein is not sustainable."
Page 7 of 8In view of the above, the Commission is of the opinion that there is no mala fide intention of obstructing the information to the Complainant, hence no action is warranted under section 20 of the RTI Act.
The Complaint is disposed of accordingly.
Vinod Kumar Tiwari (िवनोद कुमार ितवारी) Information Commissioner (सूचना आयु ) Authenticated true copy (अिभ मािणत स ािपत ित) (S. Anantharaman) Dy. Registrar 011- 26181927 Date Copy To:
The FAA, Department of Health & Family Welfare, 9th Level, A - Wing, Delhi Secretariat, New Delhi - 110002 Page 8 of 8 Recomendation(s) to PA under section 25(5) of the RTI Act, 2005:-
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