Central Information Commission
H S Varma vs Pay & Accounts Office on 20 July, 2018
क यसूचनाआयोग
CENTRAL INFORMATION COMMISSION
बाबागंगानाथमाग
Baba Gangnath Marg,
मुिनरका,
नरका नई द ली -110067
Munirka, New Delhi-110067
Tel: 011 - 26182593/26182594
Email: [email protected]
File No: CIC/PAYAO /A/2017/117833
In the matter of:
H S Varma
......Appellant
Vs.
The CPIO
Pay and Account Officer,
Ministry of Corporate Affairs,
15, R. N. Mukherjee Road, Kolkata-700001. ....Respondent
Dates
RTI application : 06.09.2016
CPIO reply : Not on record
First Appeal : 11.11.2016
FAA Order : Not on record
Second Appeal : 07.03.2017
Date of hearing : 12.07.2018
Facts:
The appellant vide RTI application dated 06.09.2016 sought information on three points;
1. Copy of the advice given to the official liquidator of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), Kolkata as sought by him vide his letter no. DL/PFG/HSV/60 dated 30.04.2010 addressed to the Pay and Accounts officer, MCA.
2. Copy of the action taken on the letter no PLG(551)/96-AD.II dated 16.06.2014 which was issued by the Ministry of corporate affairs with 1 respect to the non payment of interest on GPF amounts accrued for the period, October 2008- September 2009.
3. Copy of salary bill submitted by the bench officer, company law board, NTC house, for the month of December 2015.
The CPIO's reply and the First Appellate Authority (FAA)'s order are not on record. 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 07.03.2017.
Grounds for Second Appeal The CPIO did not provide the desired information.
Order
Appellant : Present
Respondent : Shri Tarun Kumar,
Senior Accounts Officer cum PIO,
Ministry of Corporate Affairs
During the hearing the respondent PIO submitted that they had never received the stated RTI application dated 06.09.2016 but after the receipt of the CIC's second appeal hearing notice which they had received on 27.06. 2018, they came to know about the above said RTI application.
After the receipt of the RTI application, they had drafted the requisite reply but the same was yet to be despatched to the appellant concerned.
The respondent CPIO, Pay and Account Officer, Ministry of Corporate Affairs is accordingly directed to affirm on affidavit to the Commission that the above dated RTI application was never received by the public authority concerned within 15 days of the receipt of the order.
The appellant submitted that he had not received any reply from the respondent authority concerned.
On perusal of the case record, it was observed by the Commission that information on point no. 1 and 2 of the RTI application is disclosable. A more 2 comprehensive reply is to be provided to the appellant as all the sought for information is eminently disclosable under the relevant provisions of the RTI Act i.e. details of action taken on his representation dated 16.06.2014 in the form of certified true copies of the documents sought e.g. note sheets, letters, correspondences, e-mails etc. should be provided to the appellant by the concerned respondent authority. However, the sought for information on point no. 3 of the stated RTI application is a third party information exempted u/s 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act. Hence the same cannot be provided u/s 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act.
Be that as it may, since no desired information was provided to the appellant in the present case in regard to point nos. 1 and 2 of the said RTI application, the respondent CPIO is directed to provide revised point wise reply on point nos. 1 and 2 i.e. details of action taken on his representation dated 16.06.2014 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 15 days of the receipt of the order. For this purpose, 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 observation/direction, the appeal is disposed of. Copies of the order be sent to the concerned parties free of cost.
[Amitava Bhattacharyya] Information Commissioner Authenticated true copy (A.K. Talapatra) Deputy Registrar 3