Central Information Commission
Bhupesh Kumar vs Ministry Of Railways on 6 November, 2018
क यसूचनाआयोग
CENTRAL INFORMATION COMMISSION
बाबागंगानाथमाग
Baba Gangnath Marg,
मुिनरका,
नरका नई द ली -110067
Munirka, New Delhi-110067
File No : CIC/MORLY/A/2017/110933
In the matter of:
Bhupesh Kumar
...Appellant
Vs.
Sr. DMM/Nodal Officer RTI, O/o the Sr. DMM,
Northern Railway, Ferozpur Cantt. Punjab - 152001 ...Respondent
Dates
RTI application : 27.05.2016
CPIO reply : 30.05.2016
First Appeal : 26.06.2016
FAA Order : 14.07.2016
Second Appeal : 14.02.2017
Date of hearing : 24.07.2018, 11.10.2018
Facts:
The appellant vide RTI application dated 27.05.2016 sought information regarding action taken on his complaint no W/NR/FZR/000128648. The CPIO replied on 30.05.2016. The appellant was not satisfied with the reply of the CPIO and filed first appeal on 26.06.2016. The First Appellate Authority (FAA) disposed of the appeal by virtue of its order dated 14.07.2016. Aggrieved with the non-supply of the desired information from the respondent authority, the appellant filed second appeal under the provision of Section 19 of the RTI Act before the Central Information Commission on 14.02.2017. Grounds for Second Appeal The CPIO did not provide the desired information. Order Appellant : Absent Respondent : Shri Satbir Singh,Assistant Divisional Material Manager, Representative of PIO, Northern Railway, Ferozepur Shri Yogesh Sharma, RTI Cell, Ajmer 1 During the hearing, the respondent APIO submitted that they had provided the requisite reply vide their letter dated 30.05.2016 and the First Appellate Authority (FAA)'s order dated 14.07.2016. The replies furnished to the appellant are just and proper and hence the case might be dismissed.
The appellant was not present to plead for his case. On perusal of the relevant case record, it was noted by the Commission that only an interim reply was provided to the appellant.
In view of the above, a Show Cause notice is issued to the then CPIO, Sr. DMM, Ferozepur, Northern Railway u/s 20 of the RTI Act to explain the following :-
Why no final reply was provided to the appellant in all these years. The explanation(s) to the above stated Show Cause notice is/are to be submitted to the Commission by the respondent CPIO/PIO within 15 days of the receipt of this order. The present CPIO is also to submit a report to the Commission indicating the name, address, mobile no., present place of posting and designation of the CPIO working at the relevant post at the relevant period. The present respondent CPIO is to serve a copy of this order to the then respondent CPIO 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 CPIO should note that in the event of non-submission of the explanation within the time stipulated above, the Commission has the liberty to take the required decision ex-parte against the respondent CPIO/PIO.
Be that as it may, since no desired information was provided to the appellant in the present case, the present respondent CPIO, Ajmer is directed to provide point wise reply as discussed during the hearing i.e. details of action taken on his representation 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 sheets, letters, correspondences, e-mails etc.(legible copies), free of charge u/s 7(6) of the RTI Act within 21 days of the receipt of the order. For this purpose, 2 the concerned CPIO/PIO, can take assistance of any other office/department u/s 5(4) of the RTI Act.
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 Show cause/direction, the appeal is disposed of. Copies of the order be sent to the concerned parties free of cost.
Adjunct Order : 11.10.2018
Respondent : Shri Satbir Singh
ADMM
Ferozepur
A written explanation of Sr DMM, Ferozepur Shri Amit Rana was received in which he submitted that the RTI application dated 27.05.2016 was received in the office on 09.06.2016. The RTI application was transferred to the CPIO (Sr.DCM/FZR) in the present case, vide letter dated 10.06.2016.
The Sr. DCM/FZR further transferred the RTI application to Sr.DEE/Ajmer/NWR vide letter dated 30.06.2016 but this transfer was not in accordance with the RTI Act. First Appeal was not received in his office. He further submitted that CIC order dated 24.07.2018 was complied by Sr DEE/NWR/Ajmer.
A written explanation was also received from Shri Sanjeev Gupta, ACM cum APIO vide letter dated 08.10.2018. In his explanation, the APIO submitted that the web complaint no. W/NR/FZR/000128648 of Shri Bhupesh Kumar was not received directly in their office. This web complaint/RTI was received through Nodal CPIO, Ferozpur vide letter dated 10.06.2016 received in their office on 27.06.2016. He further submitted that from perusal of web complaint it was noticed that this complaint was originally assigned to Sr. Divisional Mechanical Engineering, Northern Railway, Ferozpur who in turn transferred the same to the Sr. Divisional Mechanical Engineering, North Western Railway, Ajmer. He further forwarded it to the Divisional Electrical Engineering North 3 Western Railway Ajmer, who sent direct reply to Shri Bhupesh Kumar on 08.06.2016 at 11.30 through the online complaint redressal system.
Decision It was noted by the Commission that the then Sr. DEE, Shri Pankaj Kumar Meena provided the requisite reply on 23.07.2018 and that the order was complied with by the Sr. DCM, Ajmer on 26.07.2018. From perusal of the above facts it is clear that the RTI application was not replied to within the stipulated time period, for which the then Sr. DCM, Ferozepur is held responsible.
The Sr. DCM could have replied to the said RTI application as the web complaint was received by them on 27.06.2016, instead of doing the same, they administratively forwarded it to the Sr.DEE/Ajmer/NWR for which Sr.DEE/Ajmer/NWR cannot be held responsible.
The Sr. DCM, Ferozepur was not present in person. Under the circumstances, a strict warning is issued against him for not complying with the provisions of the RTI Act. Shri Amit Rana shall serve a copy of this warning to the then Sr. DCM, Ferozepur and the present Sr. DCM, Ferozepur under intimation to the Commission within 15 days from the receipt of this order.
With the above warning, the showcause proceeding is treated as closed. Copies of the order be sent to both the parties free of cost.
अिमताभ भ टाचाय) Amitava Bhattacharyya (अिमताभ टाचाय Information Commissioner ( सूचना आयु! ) Authenticated true copy (अिभ"मा#णत स%या&पत "ित) Ajay Kumar Talapatra (अजय कुमार तलाप ) Dy. Registrar (उप-पंजीयक) 011- 26182594 / [email protected] दनांक / Date 4