Central Information Commission
Gaurav Jindal vs Central Board Of Excise And Customs - ... on 2 December, 2016
CENTRAL INFORMATION COMMISSION
2nd Floor, August Kranti Bhawan,
Bhikaji Cama Place, New Delhi-110066
Decision No. CIC/SB/A/2015/000411
Dated 29.11.2016
Appellant : Shri Gaurav Jindal
BA-5, 1st Floor,
Shalimar Bagh West,
New Delhi-110088.
Respondent : Central Public Information Officer,
O/o Commissioner of Customs,
ICD, Tughlakabad,
New Delhi-110019.
Date of Hearing : 29.11.2016
Relevant dates emerging from the appeal:
RTI application filed on : 05.08.2015
CPIO's reply : 24.08.2015
First appeal filed on : 10.09.2015
FAA's order : 07.10.2015
Second appeal filed on : 15.10.2015
ORDER
1. Shri Gaurav Jindalfiled an application dated 05.08.2015under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) before the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), O/o Commissioner of Customs, ICD, Tughlakabad, New Delhi seeking information on five points relating to the consignments cleared under Polyester Bonded Fabric, Bonded Fabricand Synthetic categories under Tariff CIC/SB/A/2015/000411 Page 1 Head 54 under DFIA/DFRC or any other type of licence for the year 2005-06 to 2010-11 along with details of each consignment, mode of payment of duty etc.
2. The appellant Shri Gaurav Jindal filed a second appeal dated 15.10.2015 before the Commission on the grounds that the CPIO, denied the information under Section 8(1)(j) & 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act, 2005 since the information is of third parties andthe First Appellate Authority upheld the decision of the CPIO. The appellant states that the information is not related to third party and requested the Commission to direct the CPIO to furnish the information sought by him.
Hearing:
3. The appellant's representativeShri Vijay Jindal and the respondent Shri Mahesh Kumar, CPIO,O/o Commissioner of Customs, ICD were present in person.
4. The appellant submitted that the CPIO vide letter dated 24.08.2015 had denied the information sought by him on the grounds that it pertains to details of import by third parties and hence, the disclosure of the same is exempted under the provisions of Sections 8(1)(j) and 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act. The appellant further submitted that the FAA vide order dated 07.10.2015 had upheld the reply furnished by the CPIO.
5. The respondent submitted that the information was denied to the appellant as the same attracted exemption as per Section 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act because the Bill of entries filed by various importers (third parties) contains various details such as name of supplier, country of origin, quantity of goods imported, value of the goods etc. The respondent further submitted that the FAA vide his order dated 07.10.2015 in response to the first appeal stated that details filed in any document differ from individual to individual. The appellant was also informed that details such as name of supplier, country of origin, CIC/SB/A/2015/000411 Page 2 quantity of goods imported, value of the goods etc. are of paramount importance to those importers since they are arrived at after intensive research, negotiations, deliberations, and efforts by those importers and are of commercial interests of those importers. The respondent further added that the information sought pertains to a statutory document like Bill of Entry which is fiduciary in nature.
6. The appellant submitted that he is willing to modify his request by seeking the following information (i) serial no. of bill of entries, (ii) classification of goods imported (Polyester Bonded Fabric/Bonded Fabric and Synthetic category) under Tariff head 54 and (iii) import duty paid in respect of only 50 consignments imported per year under DFIA/DFRC or any other type of licence for the year 2005-06 to 2010-11.
Decision:
7. The Commission, after hearing the submissions of both the parties and perusing the records, observes that providing information regarding the serial no. of bill of entries, goods imported or duty paid would not result in divulging the trade secrets or have a bearing on the commercial/competitive interests of a third party. The Commission, therefore, directs the respondent to provide information to the appellantas per para 6 above within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order.
8. With the above observations, the appeal is disposed of.
9. Copy of the decision be provided free of cost to the parties.
(Sudhir Bhargava) Information Commissioner Authenticated true copy (V.K. Sharma) Designated Officer CIC/SB/A/2015/000411 Page 3 CIC/SB/A/2015/000411 Page 4