Central Information Commission
Shri. P A Augustian vs Ministry Of Finance on 12 January, 2012
CENTRAL INFORMATION COMMISSION
B- Wing, 2nd Floor,
August Kranti Bhavan, Bhikaji Cama Place,
New Delhi - 110066
Appeal No.CIC/AT/A/2010/001080/SS
PARTIES TO THE CASE:
Appellant : Shri P. Augustine,Ernakulum
Respondent(s) : Customs,Cochin
Date of Hearing : 12.1.2012
ORDER
1. The present Appeal is against the Order of the FAA dated 14.9.2010.
2. The Appellant in his RTI Application dated 23.6.2010 sought certain Information on the port of Import, the Bill of Entry No.& date, quantity of goods, declared value, assessed value and the duty paid on lowest among same or similar goods imported through any port of India during the period August 2009 to May 2010 in respect of 101 different varieties of goods listed in the annexure to his application. Copies of Adjudication Orders, in case goods of lowest value subjected to adjudication, were also requested for. The applicant suggested that the RITC Codes of the items listed are available with Cochin Customs since the goods imported are lying with the Customs against Bills of Entry nos. 256226 dated 21.10.2009, 258651 dated 01.12.2009, 257305 dated 09.11.2007 and 257318 dated 09.11.2007. Shri. Augustine had requested for copy of the adjudication order in case goods of the lowest value were subjected to adjudication.
3. The CPIO vide his reply dated 14.07.2010 informed the applicant that information on prices of goods under import or export through this Custom House are available in the Daily list of Imports and Exports published by the Statistics and Publicity Division of Custom House, that information, thus being available in the public domain, the applicant may subscribe to the publication on payment of requisite fees as per P.N No. 32/2009 dated 04.12.2009 and that for similar information in respect of other custom houses, he may write to the respective commissionerates. The CPIO placed reliance on the O.M No. 11/2/2008-IR dated 10.07.2008 of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, New Delhi and observed that the Act neither requires the Public Information Officer to deduce some conclusion from the material and supply the conclusion so deduced to the applicant nor requires him to do research on behalf of the citizen to deduce anything from the material and then supply it to him. The CPIO rejected the application on grounds that the information sought does not fall within the meaning of information as defined under section 2(f) of the Right to Information Act.
4. Aggrieved by the said reply of the CPIO the Appellant had preferred the First Appeal before the FAA. The FAA vide its order dated 14.9.2010 upheld the Reply of the CPIO. Aggrieved by the Order of the FAA the Appellant has preferred this Second Appeal.
5. During the course of hearing the Appellant only pressed for the Bill of Entry No.& date, quantity of goods, declared value, assessed value and the duty paid on lowest among same or similar goods imported through any port of India during the period August 2009 to May 2010 in respect of 101 different varieties of goods listed in the annexure to his application. The Commission wishes to clarify that under the RTI Act, the Applicants can seek information only in the form in which it is maintained by the Public Authorities. The Public Authorities cannot be expected to "research for or create" information for the sake of providing it to the Applicants. However, during the Hearing, the Respondents agreed to furnish the information from August, 2009 in the form and manner it is maintained by the Respondents ,hence the Appellant can receive the same on payment.
6. The present Appeal is accordingly disposed off.
Sushma Singh Information Commissioner 12.1.2012 Authenticated True Copies D.C. Singh Deputy Registrar
1. Asst. Commissioner & CPIO O/o Commissioner of Customs, Customs House, Willingdon Island Kochi-682009.
2. Addl. Commissioner & Appellate Authority O/o Commissioner of Customs, Customs House, Willingdon Island Kochi-682009.
3. Shri P. A. Augustian, Advocate, Faizel Chambers Pullepady Cross Road, Cochin-682018