Central Information Commission
Mr.Premaanand M vs Ministry Of Labour And Employment on 18 March, 2011
CENTRAL INFORMATION COMMISSION
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Decision No. CIC/SG/A/2010/003414/11548
Appeal No. CIC/SG/A/2010/003414
Relevant Facts emerging from the Appeal
Appellant : Mr. Premaanand M.
Sathyaganga Residency, Road No 4,
Margadarsi Colony, Kothapet,
Saroor Nagar, Hyderabad 500 035
Respondent : Mr. B. P. Singh
Public Information Officer & Director M/o Labour & Employment Directorate General of Mines Safety DGMS, Dhanbad, Jharkhand - 826001 RTI application filed on : 30/08/2010 PIO replied : 14/09/2010 First appeal filed on : 11/10/2010 First Appellate Authority order : No order Second Appeal received on : 03/12/2010 The appellant had filed and RTI to CPIO, Ministry of Labour and Employment and sought information on 8 points. The PIO replied to first 4 points and rest 4 points were transferred to CPIO, DGMS, Dhanbad. But the CPIO, DGMS failed to reply and hence he filed his First Appeal with Joint Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment. The FAA failed to reply to the appellant's appeal. The four points for which information was not provided are :
Sl. Information Sought
5. Please provide me the copy of the statement by the railway authority regarding the status of the tickets produced by Smt Karuna for claiming LTC from 1996 to 2006. (Point no.5)
6. Please provide me the copy of the LTC claims pertaining to Smt Karuna Sama for the period 1996 to 2001 along with all the papers including copy of the tickets produced to claim the LTC. (Point no.6)
7. Please provide me the copy of all the LTC papers including the copy of the tickets produced to claim LTC of all the employees of Directorate General of Mine Safety during their service period in DGMS. (Point no.7)
8. Please provide me the copy of the statement of the railway authority regarding the status of the tickets produced by all the employees for claiming LTC. (Point no.8) Reply of the Public Information Officer (PIO);
PIO has provided point-wise information to the appellant.
Grounds for the First Appeal:
No reply by the PIO.
Order of the First Appellate Authority (FAA):
No order Grounds for the Second Appeal:
No response from the FAA.
Relevant Facts emerging during Hearing:
The following were present:
Appellant: Mr. Premaanand M. on video conference from NIC-Hyderabad Studio; Respondent: Mr. B. P. Singh, Public Information Officer & Director (DGMS-Dhanbad);
The PIO of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, New Delhi had on 14/09/2010 transferred queries 05 to 08 to the PIO, DGMS, Dhanbad. The PIO, DGMS, Dhanbad has not brought the relevant file with him and the Appellant is stating he has not received the information on these points so far. The Commission is giving a copy of the RTI application and the letter sent by PIO Ministry of Labour, New Delhi on 14/09/2010 to the Respondent.
Decision:
The Appeal is allowed.
The PIO, DGMS, Dhanbad is directed to send the complete information on queries 05 to 08 to the Appellant before 05 April 2011. If any of the records have been weeded out this should be stated and a copy of the weeding out rules will be provided.
The issue before the Commission is of not supplying the complete, required information by the PIO, DGMS, Dhanbad within 30 days as required by the law.
From the facts before the Commission it appears that the PIO is guilty of not furnishing information within the time specified under sub-section (1) of Section 7 by not replying within 30 days, as per the requirement of the RTI Act. It appears that the PIO's actions attract the penal provisions of Section 20 (1). A showcause notice is being issued to him, and he is directed give his reasons to the Commission to show cause why penalty should not be levied on him.
He will give his written submissions showing cause why penalty should not be imposed on him as mandated under Section 20 (1) before 10 April, 2011. He will also send the information sent to the appellant as per this decision and submit speed post receipt as proof of having sent the information to the appellant.
This decision is announced in open chamber.
Notice of this decision be given free of cost to the parties. Any information in compliance with this Order will be provided free of cost as per Section 7(6) of RTI Act.
Shailesh Gandhi Information Commissioner 18 March 2011 (In any correspondence on this decision, mention the complete decision number.) (Su)