Are the Service records liable to be disclosed under the RTI Act?
9 Nov, 2012Background
The appellant filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Shipping Corporation of India Ltd. seeking inspection of service record file of a particular person. The Public Information Officer (PIO) denied the inspection of the service record under section 8(1)(j) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. of the RTI Act.
View of CIC
The Central Information Commission (CIC) rejected the appeal observing that the appellant has sought inspection of service records of the said person and the respondent have no disclosure obligation under the provisions of section 8(1)(j) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. of the RTI Act.
Comment
In this decision, the CIC has held that the service record of government employees is his personal information, the disclosure of which would invade privacy of the person. Such information is exempt for disclosure under the RTI Act except in larger Public Interest. This decision is in conflict with decisions given by other benches. Service records contain the date of entry of the individual in service, the increments received by him, his place of posting etc. which can be disclosed applying severability under section 10.
Citation: Mr. Harbhajan Singh Toor v. Shipping Corporation of India Ltd in Case No. CIC/SS/A/2011/000434
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2012/CIC/785
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