Appellant filed an appeal before the SIC, Bihar which forwarded it to CIC as the matter related to central government organization - CIC: Information in respect of the group insurance of the employees of the Electricity Board is exempt u/s 8(1)(e) & (j)
16 Nov, 2015ORDER
1. The appellant, Shri Prabhakar Jha, submitted RTI application dated 04.03.2014 before the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), Life Insurance Corporation of India, Muzaffarpur seeking information in respect group insurance of employees of Electricity Board, Dalsingsarai Division regarding the deduction of amount from the salary of employees and depositing in the policyholders account.
2. The CPIO vide letter dated 08.05.2014 informed the appellant that information in respect of Electricity Board (P.A. Code 2624) for the period 1996 to 1997 was not available on records, hence the information sought could not be provided. Dissatisfied with the reply of the CPIO the appellant filed an appeal on 27.06.2014 before the first appellate authority (FAA). The FAA had not adjudicated on appellant’s first appeal till the date of filing the instant appeal before the Commission.
3. Thereafter the appellant filed the present appeal before the State Information Commission, Bihar. As the matter related to the Central Government organization, the State Information Commission vide their letter dated 12.09.2014 forwarded the appeal to the Central Information Commission.
4. The matter was heard by the Commission. In his second appeal, the appellant reiterated his request for seeking information in respect of the group insurance of the employees of the Electricity Board, Dalsingsarai Division. The appellant was, however, not present in spite of a notice of hearing having been sent to him. During the hearing, the respondents stated that the appellant was seeking third party information. The record of 1996-97 was also not available as such record is maintained only for ten years.
5. The Commission observes that the information being sought is third party information and held by the respondents in fiduciary capacity and, therefore, it is exempt u/s 8(1)(e) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information available to a person in his fiduciary relationship, unless the competent authority is satisfied that the larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; and (j) of the RTI Act, 2005. The appeal is disposed of.
6. This order also disposes of the Appeal No. CIC/MP/A/2015/000463 which is identical appeal as the present case.
(Manjula Prasher)
Information Commissioner
Citation: Shri Prabhakar J. v. Life Insurance Corporation of India in Appeal: No.CIC/MP/A/2014/001919 No. CIC/MP/A/2015/000463