Indian Kanoon - Search engine for Indian Law

Central Information Commission

Dr S.S. Kachhawaha vs Ministry Of External Affairs on 16 November, 2019

                                   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/DOFIS/A/2018/128159/MOEAF


Dr. S. S. Kachhawaha                                          ... अपीलकता /Appellant


                                        VERSUS
                                         बनाम


CPIO, Ministry of External Affairs,                       ... ितवादीगण /Respondent
CPV Division, Delhi


Relevant dates emerging from the appeal:

RTI : 14.10.2017              FA      : 11.03.2018            SA       :04.05.2018

CPIO : 13.02.2018             FAO : 26.03.2018                Hearing : 07.10.2019


                                       ORDER

1. The appellant filed an application under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) before the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), Ministry of External Affairs, Delhi seeking information on three points pertaining to passport details of Overseas Citizen of India (OCI), Shri Jabar Singh Kachhwaha, namely,

(i) photocopy of the British Passport, (ii) date of issue of British Passport and (iii) date of surrender of Indian Passport along with the copy of Indian Passport.

2. The appellant filed a second appeal before the Commission on the grounds that the information sought for was wrongly denied by the respondent under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, and mis-construing Section 2(f) of the RTI Act. The appellant requested the Commission to direct the respondent to provide the information sought by him.

Hearing:

3. The appellant, Dr. S. S. Kachhawaha and the respondent's representative, Shri Mohan K. Khullar, Advocate were present in person.

4. The appellant submitted that no information has been provided to him by the respondent. He further stated that the information sought by him was wrongly denied by the respondent under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, as the passport is a public document. He further stated that the date of surrender of the Indian passport does not reveal any personal information, hence, should have been conveyed to him.

5. The respondent's representative submitted that the information pertaining to point nos. 1 and 2 of the RTI application is not available/maintained in their office, as the same does not pertain to issuance of the passport by the CPV division, and hence, no information could have been provided in this regard to the appellant. He further stated that the information sought by the appellant vide point no. 3 of his RTI application is part of the application form, submitted by the applicant, and hence, relates to personal information of a third party and hence, is exempted from disclosure under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act.

Decision:

6. The Commission, after hearing the submissions of both the parties and perusing the records, observes that the High Court of Delhi in the matter of Union of India versus Rajesh Bhatia [W.P(C) No.2232/2012] has held as under:

"11. In W.P(C) No.3421/2012, the information as to date of issue of passport number and date of its expiry can certainly be disclosed since no personal information is contained in such details. However, copy of the application form cannot be provided since it would contain personal information of the passport holder."

7. In view of the above ratio, the information sought relates to the personal information of a third party, the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public interest and would cause an unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the third party. Hence, the disclosure of information sought is exempted under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act. In view of this, no intervention of the Commission is required in the matter.

8. With the above observations, the appeal is disposed of.

9. Copy of the decision be provided free of cost to the parties.

Sd/-

Sudhir Bhargava (सुधीर भागव)व) Chief Information Commissioner (मु य सूचना आयु ) दनांक / Date 15.11.2019 Authenticated true copy (अिभ मािणत स यािपत ित) S. S. Rohilla (एस. एस. रोिह ला) Dy. Registrar (उप-पंजीयक) Page 3 of 4 011-26186535 / [email protected] Addresses of the parties:

1. The First Appellate Authority (FAA) Ministry of External Affairs, CPV Division, Patiala House Annexe, Tilak Marg, New Delhi.

2. The Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) Ministry of External Affairs, CPV Division, Patiala House Annexe, Tilak Marg, New Delhi.

3. Dr. S.S. Kachhawaha Page 4 of 4