Appellant sought certified copies of reports of the fire claim of a company & mentioned that his minor son is the partner in the said firm - CIC: furnish the information if appellant produces a clear letter of authorization from the company concerned
27 Feb, 2015
ORDER
1. The appellant, Shri Jagdish Prasad Sharma, submitted RTI application dated 29 July 2013 before the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), United India Insurance Co. Ltd., Mahabubnagar; seeking information regarding certified copies of reports of the fire claim of Shubham Industries, Pargi Road, Shadnagar etc., through a total of 9 points.
2. Vide reply dated 21 October 2013, the CPIO denied the information u/s 8(1)(d) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; & (e) of the RTI Act, 2005. Not satisfied with the CPIO’s reply, the appellant preferred an appeal dated 11 November 2013 to the first appellate authority (FAA) alleging that the reply has been evasive and no information was provided by the CPIO concerned. Vide order dated 2 December 2013, the FAA upheld the CPIO’s decision.
3. Dissatisfied with the response of the public authority, the appellant preferred appeal before the Commission.
4. The matter was heard by the Commission. The appellant submitted that he had submitted RTI application on 8.8.2013 regarding the certified copies of reports of the fire claim of Shubham Industries, Pargi Road, Shadnagar etc. but was denied the information by the CPIO concerned u/s 8(1)(d) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; & (e) of the RTI Act, 2005 and FAA also upheld the same. He also submitted that he had sought the information as an Indian citizen and one of the partners in the above mentioned company. He alleged that he was not able to understand as why he cannot get the documents which belonged to him only. He also mentioned that actually his minor son is the partner in the said firm and he sought information on his son’s behalf. He added that he had submitted an authority letter dated 1111.2013 but still he was not given the requisite information.
5. The respondents submitted that the appellant had not revealed in his RTI application about his relationship with the said company and that the letter of authorization given much later than the RTI application was not very clear about the appellant’s relationship with the firm. They submitted that the appellant gave a letter of authorization indicating his relationship with the partner and acknowledging his right to seek information on behalf of the partner from the Director/CEO of the company concerned, they shall provide him the information being sought.
6. In view of the above, the Commission directs the respondents to furnish the information to the appellant, on his producing a clear letter of authorization/no objection certificate from the company concerned to the respondent, within 15 days of production of such letter. The appeal is disposed of.
(Manjula Prasher)
Information Commissioner
Citation: Shri Jagdish Prasad Sharma v. United India Insurance Co. Ltd., in Appeal: No. CIC/MP/A/2014/000377