Central Information Commission
Poonam Rani vs Ministry Of Micro, Small And Medium ... on 24 December, 2021
Author: Vanaja N Sarna
Bench: Vanaja N Sarna
क य सच ु ना आयोग
CENTRAL INFORMATION COMMISSION
बाबा गंगनाथ माग
Baba Gangnath Marg
मु नरका, नई द ल - 110067
Munirka, New Delhi-110067
File no.: CIC/NSICL/A/2020/678632/MMSME +
CIC/NSICL/A/2020/681913/MMSME +
CIC/NSICL/A/2020/685749/MMSME
In the matter of:
Poonam Rani
... Appellant
VS
Central Public Information Officer
National Small Industries Corporation Ltd (NSIC)
NSIC Technical Services Centre,
Neemka, Faridabad - 121004
...Respondent
Date of Hearing : 23/12/2021 Date of Decision : 23/12/2021
Note: The above listed cases of the appellant cover the same issues as well as the arguments advanced by both the parties during the hearing were the same for all the cases. Hence, for the sake of brevity, all the cases were clubbed and adjudicated by a common order. The hearing too was conducted in a similar fashion.
The following were present:
Appellant: Present over intra VC Respondent: Khalid Shakil, Chief Manager & CPIO alongwith Manoj Kumar Deputy Manager and Q. Haider, Chief Manager, DSF, all present over intra VC In File No. CIC/NSICL/A/2020/678632/MMSME:
RTI Application CPIO Reply First Appeal FAA's Order Second Appeal dated dated dated dated dated 25/04/2020 20/05/2020 21/05/2020 03/07/2020 20/07/2020 1 Information Sought:
The appellant has sought the following information:
1. Provide the copy of RTI application filed in 2018 by Pawan Tewatia pertaining to the appellant, in NSIC /Raja Jait Singh Govt. Polytechnic Neemka, Faridabad, Haryana.
2. Provide a copy of the reply given by NSIC to the said RTI application.
3. Provide website link from where appellant can download RTI application and its reply.
4. And other related information.
In File No. CIC/NSICL/A/2020/681913/MMSME:
RTI Application CPIO Reply First Appeal FAA's Order Second Appeal dated dated dated dated dated 17/03/2020 21/04/2020 24/04/2020 03/07/2020 16/08/2020 Information Sought:
The appellant has sought the following information regarding National Small Industry Corporation, Neemka, Faridabad:
1. Provide the name of short term courses of NSIC in which name of the appellant has been shown by NSIC Neemka, Faridabad from August 2018 to December 2019.
2. Provide the copy of each short term course certificate in which name of the appellant has been shown by NSIC Neemka, Faridabad from August 2018 to December 2019.
3. Provide the attendance procedure followed - biometric or manual of each short term course in which name of the appellant has been shown by NSIC Neemka, Faridabad from Auguest2018 to December 2019.
4. And other related information.
In File No. CIC/NSICL/A/2020/685749/MMSME:
RTI Application CPIO Reply First Appeal FAA's Order Second Appeal dated dated dated dated dated 19/06/2020 17/07/2020 09/08/2020 04/09/2020 15/09/2020 Information Sought:
The appellant has sought the following information:2
1. As per data uploaded by Raja Jait Singh Government Polytechnic Neemka on AICTE portal in 2019-20, a mention of three regular faculty of Computer Science has been made. Provide teaching load of regular faculty of computer science in 2019-20 in all branches.
2. Provide the information of teaching load of regular faculty of computer science as per AICTE/HSBTE norms.
3. Whether the regular faculty of computer science had taken the teaching load as per the norms prescribed by AICTE/HSBTE?
4. And other related information.
Grounds for Second Appeal The CPIO denied the information under section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act.
Submissions made by Appellant and Respondent during Hearing:
The appellant submitted that she is not satisfied with the replies of the CPIO as the desired information was not provided to her in any of the above mentioned cases.
The CPIO submitted that an appropriate reply was given to the appellant on 20.05.2020, 21.04.2020 & 17.07.2020. He also submitted that the appellant is seeking information to fight a court case since she is aggrieved with termination of her services as her contract was not extended for any further period.
Observations:
From a perusal of the relevant case records, it is noted that the replies of the CPIO are grossly improper as rather than providing a separate, point-wise reply, the CPIO had provided a common clubbed reply to all the above mentioned RTI applications while stating that the information sought is not in public interest and was denied u/s 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act. It was also stated that the matter is sub-judice before the Hon'ble Punjab & Haryana High Court. This reply is not proper as some of the information sought by the appellant was purely related to her and could have been easily provided. Further, the personal information of any third person could have been severed u/s 10 of the RTI Act. The CPIO is therefore directed to provide a revised point-wise reply to the appellant in all of her 3 above mentioned RTI applications where the information is related only to the appellant, the same should be provided to her.3
Decision:
In view of the above, the CPIO is directed to revisit the RTI applications and provide a point-wise reply to the appellant in all the above mentioned cases. The CPIO should note that in case any exemption is claimed by him, the same should be properly justified. This direction is to be complied with within a period of 10 days from the date of receipt of this order under intimation to the Commission.
The appeals are disposed of accordingly.
Vanaja N. Sarna (वनजा एन. सरना) Information Commissioner (सच ू नाआयु त) Authenticated true copy (अ भ मा णत स या पत त) A.K. Assija (ऐ.के. असीजा) Dy. Registrar (उप-पंजीयक) 011-26182594 / दनांक/ Date 4