Central Information Commission
Mr. C L Suman vs Ministry Of Agriculture on 19 August, 2010
Central Information Commission
Room No. 5, Club Building, Near Post Office
Old J.N.U. Campus, New Delhi - 110067
Tel No: 26161997
Case No. CIC/SS/A/2010/000287
Name of the Appellant : Shri C. L. Suman
(The Appellant was not present)
Name of the Public Authority : Indian Veterinary Research Institute
(IVRI), Bareilly, U.P.
Represented by Shri Dr. Uma
Shanker, Principal Scientist, Dr.
Rishent, Jt. Director & Shri Rakesh
Kumar.
The matter was heard on : 19.08.2010.
ORDER
Shri C. L. Suman, Principal Scientist, Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Izzatnagar, Bariely, U.P. hereinafter called the Appellant, had submitted an application before the CPIO, IVRI, requesting for information to be provided to him on a number of points. In his appeal before the Commission, the Appellant submits that he has not been provided information with respect to point No.3 of his RTI Application pertaining to information on details of complete herd structure of cattle, buffaloes, pigs sheeps and goats of livestock farms of the Institute since 1970 till date in a particular format. The appellant pleads that IVRI is a government organization maintaining livestock of cattle, buffaloes, pigs, sheep and goats of which the CPIO, L.M. Section, IVRI is the custodian of information requested under the RTI Act. The CPIO vide his letter 27.11.2009 has informed the Applicant that the information requested is available in the Annual Report in the office of Joint Directorate (Research) and NLVS of the Institute. The First Appellate Authority (FAA) also, in his reply, informed the Appellant that the information requested is available in the Annual Report of NLVS.
During the hearing, the Respondent submits that the information is available in the published Annual Reports of the Institute for each year for the period for which the information has been asked for and the Appellant has been informed by the Respondent that he is free to inspect the reports. He can also get copies of relevant pages free of cost from the Institute. The Respondents submit that Shri Suman being the Principal Scientist, Central Data Cell, IVRI, he is fully aware of this. However, the information available in the published Annual Reports of the Institute does not contain information in the format in which it has been asked for by the Appellant.
After hearing the Respondent and on perusal of the relevant documents on file, the Commission is of the view that the Appellant, being a part of the Institute, must be fully aware that he can obtain the information from the published documents. The Appellant cannot expect that the Respondents will make information available for the Appellant in the format prescribed by him. In his 2nd appeal, before the Commission, the Appellant mentions that the information can be culled from various registers/reports. Under the RTI Act, the appellant can only seek information/documents available on records maintained by the Public Authority. The Commission is of the view that there has been no denial of information by the Respondent. Requisite information available on record and permissible under the RTI Act has already been provided to him. Therefore, the Commission does not find any reason to interfere in the replies of the Respondent.
With these observations the matter is disposed off.
(Sushma Singh) Information Commissioner 19.08.2010