Central Information Commission
Bhupesh Kumar vs Ministry Of Railways on 10 October, 2018
क य सूचना आयोग
CENTRAL INFORMATION COMMISSION
बाबा गंगानाथ माग
Baba Gangnath Marg,
मु नरका, नई द ल -110067
Munirka, New Delhi-110067
File No.: CIC/MORLY /A/2016/294926-AB
In the matter of:
Bhupesh Kumar,
...Appellant
VS
Shri Vijay Sinha,
The then DGM(Law), PIO, Northern Railway, Head
Quarter, Baroda House, New Delhi-110001
&
DGM(Law)/PIO, Northern Railway, Head
Quarter, Baroda House, New Delhi-110001 ...Respondents
Dates
RTI application : Not mentioned
CPIO reply : Not on record
First Appeal : Not mentioned
FAA Order : Not on record
Second Appeal : 15.07.2016
Date of hearing : 14.09.2017, 26.09.2018
Facts:
The appellant vide his online RTI application sought action taken on his complaint number W/NR/FZR/000128643. The CPIO's reply or the First Appellate Authority (FAA)'s order is not on record. The appellant being aggrieved filed second appeal before this Commission on 15.07.2016.
Grounds for Second Appeal The CPIO did not provide the desired information.
Order
Appellant : Absent
Respondent : Absent
1
Both the parties are absent
It could not be ascertained whether any reply was provided to the appellant as both the parties were absent. Apart from the online transfer u/s 6(3) of the RTI Act to Shri Vikas Sinha, Dy. GM (Law) and PIO, Office of the General Manager, Northern Railway HQ., Baroda House, New Delhi for further action by the CPIO, railway board, there is no reply from Shri Vikas Sinha, Dy. GM (Law) on record in the case. Aggrieved by the non-supply of information, the appellant went in for first appeal, also online, to the Ministry of Railway, however, there is no order of the First Appellate Authority (FAA) in the case. The Commission is accordingly constrained to hold Shri Vikas Sinha, Dy. GM (Law) and PIO, O/o the GM, NR, Hq, Baroda House squarely responsible for this lapse. In the first appeal memo (online) the appellant also submitted that the case was transferred by post to Dy. GM(Law), Office the General, Baroda House, u/s 6(3) of the RTI Act, however, there is no reply from the nodal PIO to the appellant.
The appellant submitted written communication dated 8.9.17 addressed to the CIC that the matter could be decided in his absence and also submitted that the First Appellate Authority (FAA) and CPIO should be imposed penalty as they malafidely did not disclose information to the RTI application within the time specified under RTI Act.
In view of the above submission and records available, the Commission is constrained to issue A Show Cause Notice to Shri Vikas Sinha, Dy. GM (Law) and PIO, Office of the General Manager, Northern Railway HQ., Baroda House, New Delhi u/s 20 of the RTI Act to explain the following:-
Why reply to the said RTI application had not been provided to the appellant in all these years.
The explanation to the Show Cause Notice is to be submitted to the Commission by the respondent PIO within 15 days of the receipt of the order.2
The present respondent PIO (nodal), NR, o/o GM, Hq, Baroda House is to serve a copy of this order to the then respondent PIO mentioned above under intimation to the Commission.
On receipt of the explanation to the said Show Cause Notice, further action as deemed appropriate will be taken.
The respondent PIO should note that in case of non-submission of explanation within the above stipulated time, the Commission has the liberty to take the required decision ex-parte against the respondent PIO.
Be that as it may, since no desired information was provided to the appellant, the respondent PIO, office of the General Manager, Northern Railway HQ., Baroda House is directed to provide point wise reply complete in all respects to the appellant as available on record in the form of certified true copies of the documents sought e.g. note sheet, letters, correspondence, e-mail etc free of charge u/s 7(6) of the RTI Act within 15 days of the receipt of the order.
The respondent CPIO is further directed to send a report containing the copy of the revised reply and the date of despatch of the same to the RTI appellant within 07 days thereafter to the Commission for record.
With the above direction, the appeal is disposed of. Copies of the order be sent to both the parties free of cost.
Adjunct order : 26.09.2018
Respondent : Shri V.K Pathak, DGM/Law
cum CPIO
In the subject CIC order dated 14.09.2017, Show Cause Notice has been issued to Sh. Vikas Sinha, DGM(Law)., Baroda House, Northern Railway u/s 20 of the RTI Act to explain why reply to the said RTI application had not been provided to the appellant in all these years.3
Shri V.K Pathak, the then and present CPIO, DGM/Law submitted that the application of Sh. Bhupesh Kumar dated 27.05.2016 for seeking information under RTI Act 2005 was received from CPIO-131, Railway Board in the centralized RTI cell, Headquarter office, Northern Railway, Baroda House, New Delhi on 02.06.2016. Since the subject matter of the desired information was more closely connected with the functions of other public authority i.e. Northern Railway, Firozpur division, the application was transferred to the PIO cum Sr.DMM, Firozpur division, NR under section 6(3) of RTI Act by the APIO/nodal, Headquarter office, Northern Railway, Baroda House, New Delhi vide letter no. RTI Cell/Law/1673/2016 dated 06.06.2016 for furnishing the requisite information directly to the applicant within the specified time as provided in the Act. A copy of the forwarding letter was also marked to the applicant with the advice that in case the requisite reply was not received or was considered as unsatisfactory, the 1st appeal under section 19(1) of RTI Act 2005 was to be submitted to the First Appellate Authority (FAA) cum ADRM/Firozpur division, NR.
The notice of the hearing for the Appeal/Complaint no. CIC/MORLY/A/2016/294926 dated 04.09.2017 was also forwarded by the APIO/HQ. to the PIO/Sr.DMM/Firozpur vide on- line transfer with request no. NRAIL/R/2017/01492 on 12.09.2017 with advice to attend the office of the CIC on 14.09.2017 at 12:30 PM with all the relevant documents.
The order of CIC dated 14.09.2017 was also forwarded by the APIO/hq, to the PIO/Sr. DMM/Firozpur vide on-line transfer with request no. NRAIL/R/2017/01676 on 29.09.2017 for compliance of the order of the Commission.
In view of the above, it is clear that there was no delay in dealing with the case by the APIO, Centralised RTI Cell, Northern Railway, New Delhi. Hence he prayed that the Show Cause Notice issued in the matter to Sh. Vikas Sinha, the then Dy. GM/Law, Northern Railway may be withdrawn.
4The Commission finds the explanation of DGM(Law) and CPIO, NR just and proper. Hence, the showcause notice issued to him is withdrawn.
Based on the records, it was noted by the Commission that Sr. DMM, Shri Amit Rana, Ferozepur did not provide the final reply which is deplorable. Instead he administratively transferred the same to the CPIO Jaipur. From the latest reply, it is shown that he did not provide final reply and for his such act suitable action needs to be taken against him especially as it is clear that the appellant still had not been provided with the final reply. The option existing before Sh. Rana at the relevant time was to have collected the requisite information from the Jaipur division, even if this information was not physically available with him, u/s 5(4) of the RTI Act as limitation period for transfer of the said RTI application u/s 6(3) of the Act (5 days) was long over. This act of Sh. Rana and the concerned PIO, Jaipur made a mockery of the entire time lines provided under the RTI Act to which the Commission can not and should not be a mute spectator. The Commission issues strict warning against Sh. Amit Rana, the then Sr. DMM for such acts of gross violation of the RTI Act.
A copy of this order be sent to General Manager, Northern Railway for information and necessary action.
With the above direction, the appeal is disposed of. Copies of the order be sent to both the parties free of cost.
Amitava Bhattacharyya (अ मताभ भ टाचाय) Information Commissioner ( सच ू ना आय! ु त) Authenticated true copy (अ भ मा णत स या पत त) Ajay Kumar Talapatra (अजय कु मार तलपा ) Dy. Registrar (उप-पंजीयक) 011- 26182594 / [email protected] दनांक / Date Copy to: General Manager, Northern Railway 5