Can information about office memos be claimed to be personal?
20 Feb, 2012Background
The appellant wanted to know as to the number of memos issued to an Executive Engineer from 2009 to 2011, the number of memos to which he had replied along with attested copies of memos as also of replies to them besides information on action taken against him for not responding to some of the memos. The PIO denied the information u/s 8(1) (j) of the RTI Act. The Appellate Authority reiterated his request for the information and endorsed the decision of the PIO.
View of the CIC
The Central Information Commission held that the information is definitely personal in nature and belongs to a third party. As the appellant was not been able to convince the Commission about any larger public interest involved in disclosure of information, the Commission dismissed the appeal.
Comments
In this order of the Commission, it has been ruled that even official documents may be claimed to be personal. It appears to differ from other orders of the Commission on the issue of disclosure of official documents.
Citation: Shri Rakesh Kumar Chaudhary v. Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board in file no. CIC/AD/A/2012/000054
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2012/CIC/86
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission