Central Information Commission
Kailash Chand Gupta vs Ministry Of External Affairs on 22 October, 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/MoEAF/A/2018/133436
Kailash Chand Gupta ... अपीलकता /Appellant
VERSUS
बनाम
CPIO, Under Secretary, Ministry ... ितवादीगण /Respondent
of External Affairs, Jawahar Lal
Nehru Bhawan, New Delhi
Relevant dates emerging from the appeal:
RTI : 08.02.2018 FA : 13.03.2018 SA : 28.05.2018
CPIO : not on record FAO : not on record Hearing : 18.10.2019
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 (MEA), Jawahar Lal Nehru Bhawan, New Delhi seeking information on seven points pertaining to one Shri N.R. Pillai, Ex-Secretary General, MEA working under NCAER/CEIR Committee, including, inter-alia,
(i) the date of appointment of the aforesaid officer, a Member, NCAER/CEIR, Page 1 of 4 and (ii) the details of the works divulged by him as member of the aforesaid Committee.
2. The appellant filed an appeal before the Commission on the grounds that the CPIO did not provide any reply, and the FAA also did not adjudicate his appeal, and hence no reply/information was furnished to him. The appellant requested the Commission to direct the respondent to provide the information sought by him, impose penalty on the CPIO and provide compensation to him.
Hearing:
3. The appellant was not present despite notice. The respondent, Ms. Deepa Jain, Under Secretary (RTI), Ministry of External Affairs, Jawahar Lal Nehru Bhawan, New Delhi was present in person.
4. The respondent submitted that neither the RTI application dated 08.02.2018 nor the first appeal dated 13.03.2018 was received in the office of the respondent authority. However, copies of the same were received along with the copy of second appeal preferred by the appellant before the Commission. The respondent affirmed that the public authorities pertaining to which information has been sought for does not fall within its jurisdiction and since the respondent was not aware of the public authority to which the information sought for pertains, the RTI application could not be transferred to the public authority concerned. However, due to oversight inadvertently no reply in response to the appellant's RTI application/first appeal could be provided to him. The respondent tendered her unconditional apology for this lapse and requested the Commission to condone the same.
Page 2 of 4Decision:
5. The Commission, after hearing the submissions of the respondent and perusing the records, notes that no reply in response to the RTI application was furnished to the appellant by the respondent, despite the same being received in their office along with the present appeal. The Commission takes a serious note of this lapse and counsels the CPIO to be more careful in future so that such lapses do not recur. In view of this, the Commission directs the respondent to provide an appropriate response to the appellant within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order under intimation to the Commission.
6. With the above observations, the appeal is disposed of.
7. 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 21.10.2019 Authenticated true copy (अिभ मािणत स यािपत ित) S. S. Rohilla (एस. एस. रोिह ला) Dy. Registrar (उप-पंजीयक) 011-26186535 / [email protected] Page 3 of 4 Addresses of the parties:
1. The First Appellate Authority (FAA) Ministry of External Affairs, Jawahar Lal Nehru Bhawan, Janpath, New Delhi-110011.
2. The Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) Under Secretary (RTI), Ministry of External Affairs, Room No. 1024, Jawahar Lal Nehru Bhawan, Janpath, New Delhi-110011.
3. Shri Kailash Chand Gupta Page 4 of 4