Central Information Commission
Pawan Kumar vs All India Council For Technical ... on 13 June, 2022
CIC/AICTE/A/2020/697472
के ीय सूचना आयोग
Central Information Commission
बाबा गंगनाथ माग,मुिनरका
Baba Gangnath Marg, Munirka
नई द ली, New Delhi - 110067
ि तीय अपील सं या/ Second Appeal No. CIC/AICTE/A/2020/697472
In the matter of:
Pawan Kumar ... अपीलकता/Appellant
VERSUS
बनाम
CPIO, ... ितवादीगण /Respondent
All India Council For Technical
Education, North West Region,
5th Floor, DTE Punjab,
Sector 36-A, Chandigarh-160036
Relevant dates emerging from the appeal:
RTI Application filed on : 06.09.2020
CPIO replied on : 15.09.2020
First Appeal filed on : 09.10.2020
First Appellate Authority order : 29.10.2020
Second Appeal received on : 23.12.2020
Date of Hearing : 18.05.2022
The following were present:
Appellant: Shri. Pawam Kumar, participated in the hearing through video
conference from NIC Panipat
Respondent: Shri. Gurdev Singh, Consultant (on behalf of Shri. R.K. Soni,
Regional Officer & PIO) & Smt. Anita, Data Entry Operator, participated in
the hearing through video conference from NIC Chandigarh
Page 1 of 7
CIC/AICTE/A/2020/697472
ORDER
Information sought:
The Appellant filed an online RTI Application dated 06.09.2020 seeking information on the following five points:
"The particular/details of Information/Documents asked for is given below:
1) Kindly provide the certified copy of the Salary of entire staff members(Teaching and Non Teaching Staff) submitted by Geeta Engineering College Naultha, Panipat Haryana (College code 1-
2454877923) to the All India Council for Technical Education for year 2017.
2) Kindly provide the certified copy of the Salary of entire staff members (Teaching and Non Teaching Staff) submitted by Geeta Engineering College Naultha, Panipat Haryana(College code 1- 2454877923) to the All India Council for Technical Education for year 2018.
3) Kindly provide the certified copy of the Salary of entire staff members(Teaching and Non Teaching Staff) submitted by Geeta Engineering College Naultha, Panipat Haryana(College code 1- 2454877923) to the All India Council for Technical Education for year 2019.
4) Kindly provide the certified copy of the Salary of entire staff members(Teaching and Non Teaching Staff) submitted by Geeta Engineering College Naultha, Panipat Haryana(College code 1- 2454877923) to the All India Council for Technical Education for year 2020.
5) Kindly provide the certified information that How much amount of Fixed deposit (FD) under the AICTE refunded by the Geeta Engineering College Naultha, Panipat Haryana (College code 1- 2454877923) since January 2020."
Page 2 of 7CIC/AICTE/A/2020/697472 The CPIO vide online reply dated 15.09.2020, informed to the Appellant as under:
Being dissatisfied, the Appellant filed a First Appeal dated 09.10.2020. The First Appellate Authority vide order dated 29.10.2020, informed as under:
Grounds for Second Appeal:
The Appellant filed a Second Appeal u/s 19 of the Act on the ground of unsatisfactory reply furnished by the Respondent. Appellant requested the Commission to direct the CPIO to provide complete information sought for and take appropriate legal action against the Respondent. He also requested the bench to award Compensation.Page 3 of 7
CIC/AICTE/A/2020/697472 Submissions made by Appellant and Respondent during Hearing:
The Appellant stated that he has not been provided with the information with respect to point no. 1 of the RTI Application. He further stated that only partial information with respect to point no.2 has been provided.
The Respondent submitted that the entire list of faculty as sought vide instant RTI Application has already been given along with individual salary statement for all the years vide email dated 23.11.2020. The Commission strictly remarked that the salary statements of the individuals should have been denied by quoting proper exemption clause of the RTI Act, since the same falls under the purview of third party personal information and are exempted from disclosure as per the provisions of the RTI Act.
A written submission has been received by the Commission from Shri. R.K. Soni, Public Information Officer vide letter dated 29.04.2022, and the sane has been marked to the appellant wherein the Commission has been apprised as under:Page 4 of 7
CIC/AICTE/A/2020/697472 Decision:
The Commission upon cogent perusal of the information sought in the RTI Application and replies given by the Respondent, learns that the Respondent has provided the salary statements of the individuals as well as the Aadhaar and Pan Card details to the Appellant which is personal information of third party exempted from disclosure under Section 8 (1) (j) of the RTI Act and such lackadaisical conduct of the Respondent is not in accordance with the extant provisions of the RTI Act. The Commission strictly admonishes Shri. R.K. Soni, Regional Officer & Public Information Officer, AICTE for providing the personal information of third party to the Appellant, without any application of mind.
In this regard, the Commission relies upon a judgment of Hon'ble High Court of Delhi in the matter of UPSC v. Pinki Ganeriwal vide order dated 08.11.2013 in W.P.(C) 5812/2010, wherein it was held as under:
"5. In the present case, the information such as date of birth, institution and year of passing graduation, field experience and caste is personal information of the selected candidates. There is no finding by the Commission that it was in larger public interest to disclose the aforesaid personal information of the recommended candidates. Even in his application seeking information, the respondent did not claim that any larger public interest was involved in disclosing the aforesaid information. In the absence of such a claim in the application and a finding to this effect by the Commission, no direction for disclosure of the aforesaid personal information could have been given."
In addition, the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi in the matter of Baljeet Singh v. The PIO, Industrial Training Institute, Jahangirpuri & Anr. vide order dated 01.07.2019 in W.P.(C) 776/2016 & CM. No. 3376/2016, held as under:
Page 5 of 7CIC/AICTE/A/2020/697472 "11. In the case in hand, the respondent no.2 has sought the caste certificate issued to the petitioner. The information is a personal information as the caste to which the petitioner belongs is an issue inter-se between the respondent no.1 and the petitioner i.e., between employer and employee and this aspect is governed by service rules. The disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity. In fact, it is held so by a Coordinate Bench of this court in UPSC v. Pinki Ganeriwal, W.P.(C) 5812/2010 decided on November 8, 2013."
In view of the above, the Commission expressed severe displeasure over the conduct of the Respondents for providing third party personal information to the Appellant and sternly cautions Shri. R.K.Soni, to acquaint himself well with the provisions of RTI Act.
Be that as it may, the Commission observes that information as sought by the Appellant vide instant RTI Application has been provided by the respondent, therefore, the Commission finds no further scope of intervention in the instant matter.
With the above observations, the instant Second Appeal is disposed of. Copy of the decision be provided free of cost to the parties.
The Appeal, hereby, stands disposed of.
Amita Pandove (अिमता पांडव) Information Commissioner (सूचना आयु ) दनांक / Date: 13.06.2022 Authenticated true copy (अिभ मािणत स यािपत ित) B. S. Kasana (बी. एस. कसाना) Dy. Registrar (उप-पंजीयक) 011-26105027 Page 6 of 7 CIC/AICTE/A/2020/697472 Addresses of the parties:
1. The First Appellate Authority (FAA) All India Council for Technical Education, Nelson Mandela Marg, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, Delhi -110070
2. The Central Public Information Officer All India Council For Technical Education, North West Region, 5th Floor, DTE Punjab, Sector 36-A, Chandigarh-160036
3. Mr. Pawan Kumar Page 7 of 7