Central Information Commission
Mr.Jagdev Singh Lakra vs Government Of Nct Of Delhi on 4 May, 2011
CENTRAL INFORMATION COMMISSION
Club Building, Opposite Ber Sarai Market,
Old JNU Campus, New Delhi - 110067.
Tel: +91-11-26161796
Decision No. CIC/SG/A/2011/000527/12258
Appeal No. CIC/SG/A/2011/000527
Complainant : Mr. Jagdev Singh Lakra
H No 108-109 , 1st Floor,
Pkt-A 1, Sec 4, Rohini
New Delhi -110085
Respondent : Mr. Sahil Inamdar
PIO & Assistant Commissioner
Government of India
Service Tax Commissionerate
O/o The Asst Commissioner Service Tax division-I,
37, Nehru Place, New Delhi -1100019
RTI application filed on : 22/09/2010
PIO replied : 02/11/2010
First Appeal filed on : 29/11/2010
FAA order : No order
Hearing Notice Issued on : 04/04/2011
Date of Hearing : 04/05/2011
Information Sought :-
(I) Under rule 56(1) of C.C.S. (Pension) Rules 1972, 'Every Head of Deptt. shall have a list prepared of all govt.
servants who are due to retire within the next 24 to 30 months of that date" and u/s 56(2) "A copy of every such list
shall be supplied to the Accounts Officer concerned." Was the said list prepared and a copy of the list was supplied
to the Accounts Officer? And if prepared, what is the date of preparation of list? Provide the photocopies (duly
attested) thereof.
(2) Under rule .58 of C.C.S.(Pension) Rules 1972, "Every Head of Office shall undertake the work of preparation of
Pension Papers in Form 7,two years before the date on which a govt. servant is due to retire on superannuation'.
Was it complied with in my case ,in time? If yes, provide me certified copies thereof.
(3) Under rule 59(1)(a)(i) of C.C.S. (Pension) Rules 1972, "The Head of Office shall go through the Service Book
of the government servant and satisfy himself as to whether the certificates of verification for the entire service are
recorded therein." Was the said verification of my service was done in time? If yes, provide me certified copies
thereof. Also furnish certified copy of Form 24 (Form of certificate of service for pension) in my case.
(4) Furnish me certified copy(s) of the calculation sheet in respect of my service verification w.e.f.13/03/1992 to
31/08/2010. Also furnish me the information regarding period under suspension including copies (certified) of order
of suspension and order of revocation of suspension..
(5) Under rule 59(1)(C) "Head of Office, not later than 10 months prior to the date of retirement of government
servant (i) shall furnish to the retiring Govt. servant a certificate regarding the length of qualifying service proposed
to be admitted for the purpose of pension and gratuity as also the emoluments and average emoluments proposed to
be reckoned with for retirement gratuity and pension." But inspite of repeated reminders regarding delay in
preparation and submission of pension documents (please refer to my letters Dtd. 01.07.2009, 18.01.2010,
04.03.2010 and 10.03.2010, photocopies are attached) the said certificate was not provided to me. Who is
responsible for this delay and lapse? Provide me name(s), designation(s) of the officer(s) responsible.
(6) Under rule 59(i)(C)(iii), "Head of Office shall forward to the retiring Govt. Servant Form 4 and Form 5 advising
him to submit the same duly completed in all respect so as to reach the Head of Office not later than 8 months prior
to his date of retirement. And under rule 59(2) of C.C.S. Pension Rules 1972, under clauses (a), (b) and (c) of sub-
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rule (1) shall be completed 8 months prior to the date of retirement of the Govt. Servant." Were the said provisions
complied with in time in my case? If yes , on which date? Provide me certified copies thereof. If not, provide me
name(s), designation(s) of tie Officer(s) responsible for non--compliance.
(7) Under rule 60 of C.C.S. (pension rules) 1972 "The Head of Office shall complete Part--I of Form 7 (not later
than 6 months of the date of retirement of the Govt. Servant)". Was it completed in time in my case? If not, furnish
tie date of completion with a certified copy thereof.
(8) Under rule 61 of C.C.S. (Pension) Rules 1972, "The Head of office shall, after complying with the requirements
of Rule 59 & 60, forward Form 5 and Form 7 duly completed, with a covering letter in Form 8 alongwith Service
Book of the Govt. Servant duly completed, up to date, and any other documents relied upon for the verification of
service not later than 6 months before the date of retirement of Govt. Servant, to the Accounts Officer." were the
said papers (Pension) forwarded to the Accounts Officer at least 6 months before the date of retirement i.e.3l-08-
10? Provide me the date on which the said pension papers were forwarded to the Accounts Officer? Also furnish me
name(s) designation(s) of the officer(s) responsible for the delay.
(9) It is learnt , vigilance clearance in my case was not taken well within time. Furnish the reasons thereof. If any
disciplinary proceeding/Departmental enquiry is pending against me, provide me the details of the said
departmental enquiry, disciplinary proceedings. When was the disciplinary proceedings/departmental enquiry, if
any, instituted against me? Furnish the details thereof.
(10) Has any formal charge sheet been framed against me and any chargesheet , if any, been issued to me? What are
the charges, if any, are found against me? If not, why has not the disciplinary proceedings been finalised so far.
Furnish the name(s) & designation(s) of the officer(s) responsible for the delay in finalizing the proceedings, if any?
Also please provide the details of periods during which said disciplinary proceedings/ enquiry was lying with which
officer(s) and what was the action taken by each of the official during that time? Furnish the proof of receipt and
dispatch of my case file with each of the officials and the daily progress made on the disciplinary
proceedings/enquiry, by these officials. According to rules or any other order, in how many days should such a
matter be deal with and resolved? Please provide me a copy of relevant rules/ orders.
(11) Under rule 64(3), "Head of Office shall determine the amount of provisional pension and amount of
provisional retirement gratuity. Has the Head of Office determined the amount of provisional pension and the
amount of provisional retirement gratuity? If yes, provide me the copy thereof. If not, furnish me the reason) for not
complying with the statutory provisions.
(12) Under rule. 64(4)(a) of C.C.S.(Pension) Rules 1972, Head of Office shall issue a sanction letter addressed to
the Govt. Servant endorsing a copy thereof to the Accounts Officer authorising :--
(1) 100% of pension as determined under sub-rule (3) as provisional pension for a period not exceeding 6
months to be reckoned from the date of retirement of the Govt. servant and
(ii) 100% of the gratuity as provisional gratuity as determined under Sub-rule (3) withholding 10 percent of
gratuity or 1000/-rupees, whichever is less. Has the said sanction letter been issued to me and an endorsed copy
thereof been issued to the Accounts Officer? Furnish the details thereof.
(13) Under rule 64(4)(b) of C.C.S.(Pension) Rules 1972, "Head of Office, after issue of the sanction letter, shall
draw :-
(i) The amount of provisional pension; and
(ii) The amount of provisional gratuity after deducting there from the amount mentioned in sub-clause (ii) of
clause (a) and the dues, if any, mentioned in Rule 71, in the same manner as pay and allowances of the
establishment are drawn by him. Has the said provisions of Rule 64(3) and 64(4)(b) of C.C.S. (pension) Rules
1972 complied with or not? If yes, provide me a copy thereof and if not, furnish me the reasons for not
cornpl4ing with the statutory provisions. Also provide we the name(s) & designation(s) of the Officer(s),
responsible for not complying with/violating the statutory rules.
(14) Vide G.I. Deptt. of P.& P.W., O.M.No.38/9/87--P.&P.W., Dtd. 23rd Jan..,1987, "Provisional pension to
be paid by Head o-f Office in the absence of intimation from Accounts Officer. If the I-load of Office is of the
opinion that Govt. -Servant is likely to retire before his pension or gratuity or both can be finally assessed and
settled in accordance with the relevant rules, he shall take expenditious step to sanction up to 100% of the
pension as provisional pension and upto 100% of gratuity as provisional gratuity, in accordance with the rules.
Has the provisional pension and provisional gratuity been sanctioned for me? If yes, provide me copies thereof.
If not, who is accountable for non--compliance
(15) My leave encashment has not so for been paid to me. Furnish me (j) No. of leave to be encashed, (ii)
Amount proposed to be encashed in lieu of leave, (iii) Latest date by which the said amount of leave
encashment will be paid to me, (iv) Reasons for the delay in payment of leave encashment amount and (v)
Name(s) & designation(s) of the official(s) responsible for the delay.
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(16) Furnish me amount to be paid against C.G.E. Group Insurance Scheme. Vide para 8.1 and 11.1 of
Employees Group Insurance Scheme, 1980, "Amount of subscription credited to the Savings Fund alongwith
interest thereon will be paid to the employee at the time of retirement." It is worth mentioning here that a
group-wise membership register is maintained by the Head of Office and not the P.A.O . The maintenance of
all other relevant records and detailed account is also the responsibility of the Head of Office. Has the said
register and other relevant records been maintained? If yes, furnish the relevant photocopies of my C.G.E.
Group Insurance account. When will I get the said amount of subscription credited to my Savings Fund
alongwith interest thereon?
(17) I had filed an application for re-imbursement of Medical Expenses incurred on Lab. Tests/Medicines/
Treatment with all requisite documents on 18-09-2008 for Rs.8316/-. Concerned Commissioner (Service Tax),
Delhi, I also has sanctioned the said re-imbursement claim vide order No .III--20/ST/DIV--I/Medical/34/O8
Dtd.27/0l/2009. But even after a long period of approx. 2 yrs. , I have not been paid the said reimbursement
claim. In the same way furnish the status report of re--imbursement claim filed on (i) 25/08/09 for Rs.3500/--
(ii) on 09/10/09 for `. 3265/--. Furnish the reason(s), if any, for the delay and who is this?
(18) C.G.H.S. Cards of my family have been got deposited by the Admn. Officer, Div--I of S. Tax on
31/08/2010 but C.G.H.S. Cards for pensioners have not been issued to me. When will I be issued the said
CGHS Cards?
(19) Am I entitled to get a pensioner's Identity Card? If yes, when will my Pensioner's Identity Card be issued
to me? I am ready to borne expenditure, if any, incurred in this connection.
(20) Let me know whether I am eligible for 40% commutation of pension? If I am not eligible, then my option
of commutation of pension which I opted while filing pension papers, may be treated as null and void.
Reply from the PIO:
The information sought can be considered as "Information" held by public Authority as defined in The Right to
Information Act, 2005 as elaborated in certain case laws as below.
No queries like why, what, how, etc. can be answered by a public authority. In the guise of information seeking,
explanations and queries about nature and quality of actions of public authority need not be raised for answer. [As
decided by CIC in K. Anand Kini V. Canara Bank on 10.5.2007]
In a case [Dr. D.V. Rao V. Deptt. Of Legal Affairs, Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi, File No. CIC/AT/A/2006/00045,
dated 21.4.2006] where the information sought was 'why the recruitment rules were not amended' the CIC held the
RTI. Act does not cast on the public authority any obligation to answer queries in which attempt is made to elicit
answers to questions with prefixes, suck as, why, what, when and whether.
In a case in Celso Pinto V. Goa State information Commission (2008) 24 CLA-BL Supp (snr)7 the High Court of
Bombay (panji Goa Bench) define the term information as under "The definition of information" cannot include
answers to the question 'why' as that would be asking for a justification the public information authorities cannot
be expected to communicate to the citizen the reason why a certain thing was done or not done in the sense of
justification are matter with in the domain of the adjudicating authorities and cannot properly be classified as
information.
In view of above, for B(1) to B(20) the information sought can not be considered as information held by the public
authority.
Grounds for First Appeal:
No information was provided by PIO.
FAA's Order:-
An appeal against this Order lies to Sh. Mohd. Ali, Additional Commissioner, Service Tax, Headquarters,
17-B, IAEA House, MG Marg, I.P. Estate, New Delhi- 110002. This copy is issued to the individual for
his personal use free of cost. The person feeling aggrieved with this Order, can file an appeal to the
appellate authority within 30 days of the receipt this letter.
Sb. Jagdev Singh Lakra, H.No.108-109, 0 floor, Pkt. A-I, Sector-4, Rohini,
Delhi-110085 filed his RTI application dated 21.09.2010 which was received in the
Service Tax, Division-I, New Delhi on 05.10.2010 through Service Tax
Commissionerate, HQ under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (hereinafter referred to as "RTI Act").
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Grounds for Second Appeal:
Information soughtis not provided within the stipulate time period. No response from the FAA. Relevant Facts emerging during Hearing:
The following were present Appellant: Absent;
Respondent: Mr. Ajay Sardana, Superintendent on behalf of Mr. Sahil Inamdar, PIO & Assistant Commissioner;
The Appellant has not framed his queries properly but the Commission feels that the PIO could have understood the information sought from the queries of the Appellant. The Commission is reframing the queries as below:
1- Whether the list of government servants due to retire in the next 24 to 30 months have been prepared about two years before the retirement of the appellant. If such a list had been prepared a photocopy will be provided.
2- Whether the pension papers in form-7 of the appellant were prepared about two years before this retirement. If they were prepared an attested photocopy will be provided. 3- Whether the verification mentioned in query-3 have been done, if this was done an attested photocopy will be provided.
4- Attested copy of the calculation sheet with respect to service verification of the appellant. 5- A copy of certificate regarding the length of qualifying service of the appellant.
6- Whether form-4 & 5 were submitted.
7- Whether form-7 was submitted.
8- Whether the Appellant's pension papers were forwarded to the accounts department.
9- Whether vigilance clearance was obtained.
The Commission directs the PIO to provide whatever is available on records. Where any of the above does not exist on the records, the PIO will inform the Appellant that there is nothing on the records.
The RTI Act expects all the PIOs to provide information that is available on the records. A PIO must not look the way the query is framed but see if what is sought is available on the records.
Decision:
The appeal is allowed.
The PIO is directed to provide the information on the nine points as directed above to the Appellant before 30 May 2011.
This decision is announced in open chamber.
Notice of this decision be given free of cost to the parties. Any information in compliance with this Order will be provided free of cost as per Section 7(6) of RTI Act.
Shailesh Gandhi Information Commissioner 04 May 2011 (In any correspondence on this decision, mention the complete decision number.) (HA) Page 4 of 4