Central Information Commission
Sanjay Podder vs Central Railway on 3 November, 2025
के ीय सूचना आयोग
Central Information Commission
बाबा गंगनाथ माग, मुिनरका
Baba Gangnath Marg, Munirka
नई िद ी, New Delhi - 110067
File No: CIC/CRAIL/A/2024/125717
Sanjay Podder .....अपीलकता/Appellant
VERSUS
बनाम
PIO,
Central Railway, HQ
Office, GM Building, CSMT,
Mumbai - 400001 .... ितवादीगण /Respondent
Date of Hearing : 27.10.2025
Date of Decision : 03.11.2025
INFORMATION COMMISSIONER : Vinod Kumar Tiwari
[Total number of 13 Second Appeals of the Appellant are listed today for
hearing before the Commission]
Relevant facts emerging from appeal:
RTI application filed on : 15.07.2021
CPIO replied on : 04.07.2024
First appeal filed on : 31.05.2024
First Appellate Authority's order : Not on record
2nd Appeal/Complaint dated : 29.07.2024
Information sought:
1. The Appellant filed an RTI application dated 15.07.2021 (offline) seeking the following information:
"I joined IRSME in the year 1996 through the 1994 Engineering Services Examination. I was compulsorily retired vide Rly Bd's order dated 03.12.2019. To defend my case in CAT Mumbai, I may kindly be furnished with the following information under the backdrop mentioned in each case Page 1 of 9
1) I was kept under sick list of the Byculla railway hospital vide the sick memo dt 07.08.2018 and continued to be under sick till 11.03.2019 when I was discharged vide MD/Byculla letter No BY/HE/Sick/SP dated 11.03.2019 addressed to PCMD/CSMT with copy of the letter marked to DRM(P) and PCME/CR. This letter was handed over to me in person on 01.04.2019 at my official residence by a staff of the PCME office under a covering letter No.M.PCME.CON dated 15.03.2019 from Secy to PCME (Sri V S Prabhaker) who also marked this letter as a copy to DyCPO(Gaz) CSMT. In connection with above narration I would like myself to be furnished with the following information. a) The remark(s) passed by each authority i.e. i)DRM(P) ii) PCME CSMT iii)DyCPO(Gaz) CSMT
iv)PCMD CSMT, who were in receipt of the MD/Byculla's letter, through their file noting(s) or through any other mean(s).
2) In the CAT/BB order No dated 17.12.2018 delivered on the OA No 762/2018 the speaking order dated 15.01.2019 was passed by the PCME Sri Manoj Joshi.i) In this connection kindly arrange to provide the remark(s) passed by both the respondents in the case i.e. the GM/CR Sri D.K.Sharma and the SPO(Gaz/legal)/General Manager(P) through file noting(s) in consultation with whom, speaking order was passed by the PCME. ii)Note of approval by GM/CR of the draft speaking order before being finally endorsed by the PCME for providing to the applicant (Sanjay Podder)in response to the Hon'able Tribunal order may also be furnished.
3) Vide MD Byculla letter No.BY.HE.sick.SP dated 13.02.2019, I was asked by MD Byculla to attend a Medical Board on 16.02.2019. i) Kindly arrange to provide the names and designation of the doctors who constituted the said board.ii)recommendation of the committe members or the comment passed by MD byculla Ms Meera Arora after the committee met on 16.02.2019. iii) Also provide the noting sheet where PCMD CSMT approval had been taken to nominate any other doctor or doctor(s) on super specialty for the said board. iv)The out come of the board that was held on 07.08.2018 as well as the one held on 7/8.01.2019 for which the doctors nominations were done both by MD Byculla and PCMD CSM1
4) For the purpose of weeding out the inefficient, ineffective, corrupt or doubtful integrity employees from the railway employment and to keep it trim, honest and efficient, the provision of rule No 1802(a) and 1803(a) of IREC Vol(II) have been used to compulsory retire an employee in a bid to strengthen the administration. Kindly arrange to provide a copy of Schedule of power (For short SOP) under which GM/CR is authorized to Page 2 of 9 constitute a committee for the said purpose consisting of the PCPO and the PCME for reviewing the performance of a class I gazetted officer. ii) Also in exercise of which rule PCME/CR and PCPO/CR can recommend to GM/CR to compulsory retire or retain a class 1 & class II gazetted officer from the railway service. Copy of the rule may be provided.
5) My letter dated 10.10.2020 addressed to PCME/CR a copy of which is enclosed may be taken as reference to provide the information as to what action was taken by the PCME/CR on the said letter. In this, all noting exchange between the PCME, PCPO and the GM/CR may kindly be furnished.
6) Copy of the letter that dictates i)the policy for consideration of the request transfer of a gazetted employee by the competent authority and also ii) the policy which enable or guide a competent authority to cancel a transfer order of a class I gazetted employee within the zonal railway (Central Railway) iii) An exhaustive list of the grounds considered for the above purpose may also be provided.
7) Kindly refer to the railway board letter No.2016/E(TRG.)/6/30/(52 and 53 AMP) dated 09.08.2016 on the subject: 52 and 53 advance management programme to be conducted at NAIR/Vdodara, ICLIF/Malaysia & INSEAD/ Singapore. For Regulars (53 AMP) at serial No 23 Sanjay Podder has been shown to be belonging to the service IRSME with batch as 1997. Sanjay Podder qualified the 1994 engineering service examination and is therefore entitled to belong to batch 1994. Has Sanjay Podder been relegated to the 1997 batch? If so, kindly arrange to provide name and designation of the authority/ authorities who relegated Sanjay Podder to 1997 batch.ii) Provide copy of the rule under which such a relegation took place.
8) Figures on operating ratio of Central Railway as well as western Railway vis-a-vis the Indian Railway for the year 2002-03, 2017-18, 2018-
19 and 2019-20.
9) No of staff cases on Central Railway recommended for cut in pension to Railway Board to affect penalty, on issuance of SF-5 (Major penalty charge sheet) by filling the UPSC form in the year 2018, 2019, 2020.
10) No of days I worked under the reporting, reviewing and the accepting authority in the year 2017-18 i.e.under sri Mahesh kumar Verma CRSE/FR,K.P.Somkuwar PCME and Sri D.K.Sharma GM/CR.
Page 3 of 911)1 on my own had submitted a letter dated 07.01.2019 addressed to MD Byculla in Byculla Railway hospital under due acknowledgement, for the knowledge and information of the Medical Board members who all met on 08.01.2019. Kindly arrange to provide the remarks of the board members on the said letter along with any special comment/remark by MD Byculla herself.
12) No of serving employees on the Indian Railways who are undergoing psychiatric treatment and the policy as per which their working performance is monitored Data of such employees suffering from psychiatric ailment may also be provided who are continuously performing poorly and how many among these have been subjected to special medical for assessing their suitability for the job under FR 56(j) and how many have been given compulsory retirement. The data should be separately provided for the Gazetted and Non-Gazetted staff.
13) No of gazetted (Group A and Group B) employees on Central Railway who have cumulatively worked in Mumbai and in its surroundings areas for more than 10,12, 14 years till the year 2019. This should include officers both working as well ae retired from the lowest rank to the highest one(GM/CR). (Note: Those who have worked for 12 or 14 year should also find their place in 10 years category etc)
14) What did the DPC (departmental promotion committee) comment while considering my (Sanjay Podder) promotion from JAG to selection grade in the year 2007, 2008, 2009 & 2010 respectfully. i]Copy/copies of the DPC proceedings for these years may be provided. ii) Also kindly provide the DPC recommendation in the year 2011 which considered me to fit for promotion into the selection grade(SG).
15) Based on written information I was declared to be unauthorizedly absent from duty vide the DyCPO[G)/WR letterNo.E(G)636/8/SP dt.04.08.2008 and the Railway Board letter No.E(O)III-2008/TR/416 dated 12.08.2010. Copies of these written information available with the appropriate authority to declare me as unauthorizedly absent may kindly be provided.
16) Copy of the rule under which I was not immediately promoted into the senior scale after the confirmation when it was highly due.
Page 4 of 917) Designation of the authority on zonal railways which maintains/keeps the records of the various posts surrendered by all the divisions of the zone.
18) Name of the railway colonies and other (railway) establishments in Mumbai which receive water partly or fully from the tanker service.
19) Copies of the all the performance reports both from SrDME(DSL) Sri P.C.Verma & CWM/PL Shri Arunendra Kumar, based on which I was given the confirmation after the completion of the probation period.
20) Noting pages of the files on which approval given by the competent authority to utilize the WMDA fund for a purpose other than for what it is meant.
21) Recommendation made by appropriate authority/authorities before sending me for the AMP at Malaysia and Singapore Copy the recommendation note/letter may be provided.
22) Copies of the recommendation/comments passed by the various DPC held for promotion from SG to SAG on the entries made in the health column of my APAR for the year 2012-13 by reporting officer Sri P.A Lamghare CRSE(FR)/CR and the reviewing officer Sri W.K.Pradhan PCME/CR
23) Name and designation of the PIO Public information officer)for BAMH Railway hospital, byculla, Mumbai.
24) Name of the division on western railway which received the fuel efficiency shield for the year 2001-02 & 2002-03
25) Number of days of detention in the year 2017 to Train No KMPS/ Container/Ld at NGN station of BSL for detection of the center Sill crack in the BLL wagons. Under whose initiative train was allowed to move Kindly arrange to provide the concern noting page(s).
26) In what capacity does CRB works for the govt of India?Is he the acting as ex officio secretary to govt of India?. The necessary notification issued by railways to this effect may kindly be provided.
27) For the year 2017-18, how many cases were reported where delay in offering TS(technical scrutiny) took place by more than three working Page 5 of 9 days, both for TC(tender committee)as well as non TC cases and for such reported cases which is considered to be viewed very seriously i) what action was taken against such officials responsible for the delays by the then PCME Sri K.P.Somkuwar i.e.how the erring officials were acted upon by the then PCME/CR ii) Was confidential letter issued to all the concerned or selectively few chosen for the purpose.iii) Name of the officials issued with such confidential letters may also kindly be furnished?
28) Due to implementation of JPO(joint procedure order) on damages to wagon at the sidings where loading, unloading takes place, the damages to the wagons must have been totally curbed on central railway or reduced drastically. Kindly enumerate the total wagon damage charges recovered from various parties after the implementation of the JPO and also the damage charges recovered since 01.08.2018 till date and this figure(amount)should be supported by suitable documents)
29) Please refer to to the letter No: C 424/M&S/Own wagon policy(1) dated 31.10.2017 addressed to all the CMEs & CFTMs of the zonal Railways by Sri H Basak, Dy Chief Commercial Manager/FM& claims with regard to request for verification and certification of 50 BTPN Wagons under OYW Scheme. Kindly arrange to furnish the action taken on this letter by the the then PCME/CR and CRSE(FR) for resolving the issue ii) Under this scheme, current status on releaze of the payment by Central Railways to the oil companies may also be furnished and if the payment is on conditional basis, the condition so laid down may be made available by providing the copy of the file noting(s).
30) Kindly refer to the letter No.CRX/CB/NHRC 72/2017-18 dt 20.04.2018 addressed to FA&CAO(X)/CSMT on the subject ""NHRC Notice regarding monetary relief to ........at MTN railway station. What were those compelling circumstances which forced the administration to allow the matter to be dealt by the then Secy to PCME Sanjay Podder rather than the DyCME(Workshop)/CR who was to deal the matter. Kindly arrange to furnish the said letter and the subsequent letter written by DyCME(Workshop) thereafter.
31) For the purpose of breaking the monopoly and to introduce competition with an over all objective to bring down the price of an item efforts should be made by the railways to develop new vendors. For one such item "Torsion spring for ALT of BLC wagon M/S HOLLAND and CO LTD part No68858 or similar" what efforts have been made by Central Page 6 of 9 Railway?i)All correspondence related to above may be furnished along with the unit cost of the item at which it has been purchased in the recent past on the Indian Railways') Copy of the purchase order may be furnished."
2. Not having any response from the CPIO, the Appellant filed a First Appeal dated 31.05.2024. The FAA order is not on record.
3. After filing the First Appeal, the CPIO furnished a reply to the Appellant on 04.07.2024 stating as under:
"I have gone through your appeal and noted the following observations:
1. Your initial application was dated 15.07.2021 under reference (i) above.
2. You were replied on 13.08.2021, by the PIO, about the information pertaining to this office vide reference (ii) above, within the stipulated time of 30 days from the date of receipt of your RTI application.
3. You had asked for "clarification" vide your letter/appeal dated 12.12.2023. It is clarified that your representation(s) dated 15.07.2021 and 23.07.2021 is one and the same; while one copy was received by post, another was received on the Portal on 23.07.2021. Therefore, the date displayed on Portal on your representation (i.e. 23.07.2021) was referred to, in this Office's letter dated 25.11.2021, issued under letter No.CR/P/HQ/Gaz/Sett/283/Pen/SP.
4. You were provided with the information and the requirements there of under reply dated 13.08.2021 [reference (ii) above] along with the following remarks:-
"Appeal, if any, can be preferred within 30 days from receipt of this letter. The Appellate Authority in this case is: CPO (A)/Appellate Authority, PCPO's Office, Central Railway, Mumbai CSMT 400001".
5. However, you have submitted appeal dated 31.05.2024, after a lapse of more than two and half years. Your Appeal is time barred as per the Section 19 (1) of RTI Act 2005, wherein it is stated that:-
"Any person who, does not receive a decision within the time specified in sub-section (1) or Clause(a) of sub-section (3) of Section 7, or is aggrieved by a decision of the Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer, as the case may be, may within thirty days from the expiry of such period or from the receipt of such a decision, prefer an appeal to such officer who is senior in rank to Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer as the case may be, in each public authority."Page 7 of 9
You have also not brought out sufficient cause, because of which you were not able to file the appeal on time.
In view of the above, your appeal cannot be processed at this stage."
4. Feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied, Appellant approached the Commission with the instant Second Appeal.
Relevant Facts emerged during Hearing:
The following were present:-
Appellant: Present through video conferencing.
Respondent: Shri Ajay Raj, APO & APIO, Central Railway present through Video-Conference.
5. Written submissions of the Respondent are taken on record.
6. The Appellant, during the hearing, had informed the Commission that he does not wish to proceed with the instant Second Appeal and wants to withdraw the same.
Decision:
7. The Commission upon a perusal of records and after considering the above-mentioned submissions of the Appellant, finds liable to be dismissed as withdrawn.
Accordingly, the above-mentioned second appeal is dismissed as withdrawn.
Vinod Kumar Tiwari (िवनोद कुमार ितवारी) Information Commissioner (सूचना आयु ) Authenticated true copy (अिभ मािणत स"ािपत ित) (S. Anantharaman) Dy. Registrar 011- 26181927 Date Page 8 of 9 Copy To:
The FAA Central Railway, HQ Office, GM Building, CSMT, Mumbai - 400001 Page 9 of 9 Recomendation(s) to PA under section 25(5) of the RTI Act, 2005:-
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