Central Information Commission
Sh Surat Singh Dobiyal vs Pio Cabinet Secretariat on 2 May, 2011
ENTRAL INFORMATION COMMISSION
Club Building (Near Post Office)
Old JNU Campus, New Delhi - 110067
Tel: +91-11-26161796
Decision No. CIC/SM/A/2011/000275/SG/12222
Appeal No. CIC/SM/A/2011/000275/SG
Relevant Facts emerging from the Appeal:
Appellant: : Shri Surat Singh Dobiyal
Ashok Vihar Lane 2,
Ajabpurkalan, Dharampur,
Dehradun, UJ , Uttarakhand
Respondent: : Ms. Sumati Kumar,
Director & CPIO,
Cabinet Secretariat (EA-II Section)
Bikaner House (ANNEXE),
Shahjahan Road, New Delhi.
RTI application : 10/05/2010
PIO reply : 16/06/2010
First appeal : 10/07/2010
FAA order : 11/08/2010
Second appeal : 13/10/2010
Information sought:
The appellant had filed an application on 10/02/2010 asking that he should be given the benefits as per the sixth pay commission. He wanted to the details of the action taken on his application.
PIO's reply:
Information pertains to Intelligence and Security Organization under the Cabinet Secretariat which is exempted from giving information as per Section 24 of the RTI Act except on the grounds of corruption or human rights violation.
Grounds for First appeal:
Denial of information unjust.
FAA order:
3. Admittedly, the information sought by you pertains to the Intelligence and Security Organization under the Cabinet Secretariat mentioned at Sl.No.8 in the Second Schedule of the RU Act of 2005 and in view of the statutory bar of Section 24(1) of the RTI Act, 2005 which provides that "Nothing contained in this Act shall apply to the intelligence and security organizations specified in the Second Schedule, being organizations established by the Central Government or any information furnished by such organizations to that Government". As rightly observed by the CPIO in her Order dated 16.6.2010, the information sought for would be directly covered by the provisions of Section 24(1) of the Act and, therefore, your application was rightly rejected.
Grounds for Second appeal:
I was given the benefit of the 4th and 5th pay Commission but am being wrongly denied the benefit of the 6th Pay Commission. I should be given the Information. Decision:
The information has been denied on the grounds that the information pertains to an organization which has been kept out of the purview of the Right to Information Act by the Parliament under Section 24(1). The PIO and the First appellate authority have stated that the organization from whom the information is sought is covered under Second Schedule. The appellant has not contested this, nor has he alleged any violation of human rights or corruption in his application or appeals. Section 24 (1) of the RTI Act states: "Nothing contained in this Act shall apply to the intelligence and security organisations specified in the Second Schedule, being organisations established by the Central Government or any information furnished by such organisations to that Government: Provided that the information pertaining. to the allegations of corruption and human rights violations shall not be excluded under this sub-section: Provided further that in the case of information sought for is in respect of allegations of violation of human rights, the information shall only be provided after the approval of the Central Information Commission, and notwithstanding anything contained in section 7, such information shall be provided within forty five days from the date of the receipt of request;"
Parliament has decided that only in cases where a human rights violation or corruption is alleged will the Central Commission will approve releasing such information. Since no such allegation has been made by the appellant the Commission has to accept the contention of the PIO and the First Appellate Authority that they are not obliged to give the information.
Appeal is disposed.
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
02 May 2011 (In any correspondence on this decision, mention the complete decision number.) (SG)