Neeraja Srivastava vs Punjab National Bank on 10 March, 2022

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Central Information Commission

Neeraja Srivastava vs Punjab National Bank on 10 March, 2022

1. The issues under consideration i.e. the reliefs sought by the complainant in the complaint dated 03.09.2019 due to alleged non-supply of information vide RTI application dated 21.10.2014are as under:-

 Initiate action under section 20 (1) of the RTI Act and impose penalty amount on previous officers of Punjab National Bank  Kindly award compensation for the harassment, humiliation and mental agony suffered by the complainant Page 1 of 4

2. Succinctly facts of the case are that the complainant filed an application dated 21.10.2014 under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) before the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), Punjab national Bank, Rajendra Place, New Delhi, seeking following information:

(i) "Why respondent Bank Punjab National Bank, C - Block, East of Kailash, New Delhi is holding back in there custody original Hoodies despite our demand to your Bank to return Hoodies to us. So that we can recover our payment from Sabir Khan. We had also filed a police complaints against Sabir Khan in the year 27.02.2012.

(ii) Why Bank, C - Block, East of Kailash, New Delhi, provided them true copies of the original bills and original Hoodies in the year 12.10.2011 not the original Hoondies and Bills.

(iii) Why Bank has not made Sabir Khan the party in the court case when Sabir Khan had became the defaulter with the Bank and System Tele Communication during the course of court case by not fulfilling his promise and committed the breach of trust.

(iv) Why Bank has never produced the original Hoondies in the court in Civil Suit. We want from bank, C - Block, East of Kailash Branch, New Delhi to returned Hoondies and bills so that they can be able to recover our payments from Sabir Khan.

(v) We also want to know the Bank interest Hoondies amount till today."

The CPIO vide letter dated 19.11.2014 replied to the complainant. Aggrieved with the same, the complainant filed first appeal dated 09.12.2014. The First Appellate Authority (FAA) vide order dated 17.01.2015 disposed of the first appeal. Aggrieved by the same, the complainant filed a complaint dated 03.09.2019 before the Commission which is under consideration.

3. The complainant has filed the instant complaint dated 03.09.2019 inter alia on the grounds that reply given by the CPIO was not satisfactory. The complainant requested the Page 2 of 4 Commission to direct the CPIO to provide the complete information and take necessary action as per Section 20 (1) of the RTI Act.

4. The CPIO replied vide letter dated 19.11.2014 informed that the information sought by the complainant in points no. (i) to (v) were in the form of queries, hence, did not fall under the purview of definition of "information" under Section 2 (f) of the Right to Information Act, 2005. Further, it had been informed by the branch that as per the extant guidelines of the bank the records were required to be kept in the bank up to 10 years only. The Hundies and cheques required by the complainant which related to the year 1989 and 1990 respectively were more than 10 years old and the old record up to 31.03.2002 were destroyed by the branch on 05.11.2012. The FAA vide order dated 17.01.2015 upheld the reply of the CPIO.

5. The complainant's representative Shri Vibhu Srivastava and on behalf of the respondent Shri Anil Thakur, Chief Manager & CPIO and Shri Ashish, Law Officer, Punjab National Bank, Delhi attended the hearing in person.

5.1. The complainant inter alia submitted that they had been demanding the original hundis and cheques since the last 30 years and the respondent bank kept refusing to disclose them on the ground that the same were not available. However, when he approached the Prime Minister's Grievance redressal cell and sent an e-mail on 11.08.2019, they were stunned that those documents suddenly emerged. He argued that the First Appellate Authority and other bank officials who had confirmed on 05.11.2012 that the documents were destroyed, traced out the documents and called him to collect the same within 5 days of filing complaint before the Hon'ble Prime Minister. Therefore, the complainant pleaded that it was a grave and misleading act on the part of the bank officials and requested the Commission to impose penalty upon the concerned CPIOs.

5.2. The respondent while defending their case inter alia submitted that, generally, the records were transferred to CRC upon expiry of a period of ten years. Therefore, it required additional time to trace out from the back end as the same was not available in the Main Branch. They further stated that the complainant had sought reasons through the Page 3 of 4 RTI application, hence, the erstwhile CPIO had taken the decision that the same was not covered within the definition of "information" under section 2 (f) of the RTI Act.

6. The Commission after adverting to the facts and circumstances of the case, hearing both the parties and perusal of records, observed that the reply given by the respondent was evasive. The complainant contended that the respondent had concealed the documents and had taken false plea that the documents sought were not available. In view of the above, the Shri Anil Thakur, CPIO, and the then CPIO (as on 19.11.2014) are show caused as to why penalty under section 20 (1) of the RTI Act may not be imposed upon each of them for not furnishing the requisite information. The present CPIO is given the responsibility to serve a copy of this order upon the then CPIO and secure his written explanations as well as his attendance on the next date of hearing. All written submissions may be uploaded on the Commission's web portal within 21 days.

Sd/-

(Suresh Chandra) (सुरेशचं ा) Information Commissioner (सूचनाआयु ) दनांक/Date: 10.03.2022 Authenticated true copy R. Sitarama Murthy (आर. सीताराममूत ) Dy. Registrar (उपपंजीयक) 011-26181927(०११-२६१८१९२७) Addresses of the parties CPIO: PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK, CIRCLE OFFICE, NORTH DELHI, 3RD FLOOR, VIKRANT TOWER, RAJENDRA PLACE, DELHI-110008.

FIRST APPELLATE AUTHORITY, PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK, CIRCLE OFFICE, NORTH DELHI, 3RD FLOOR, VIKRANT TOWER, RAJENDRA PLACE, DELHI-110008.

MS. NEERAJA SRIVASTAVA Page 4 of 4

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