CIC: Since the Appellant is an Enterprise and not any citizen seeking information in his individual capacity, the same is not covered under Section 3 of the RTI Act - CIC: Appellant is advised to exercise his right to information judiciously in future
17 Aug, 2018Information sought:
The Appellant sought copies of the following:
CIC/IARMY/A/2017/144305/SD
Names of participants/Agencies, Lowest Tender Percentage Rate, Name of Agencies quoted lowest rate, Tender Notice Number and Date, and Approved C.B.R. True Extract Copy, for the work of Manning and Operation Water Pumping Station, Reservoirs on contract basis in various localities in Secunderabad Cantonment Board area, for the financial year 2012-2013.
CIC/IARMY/A/2017/144421/SD
Names of participants/Agencies, Lowest Tender Percentage Rate, Name of Agencies quoted lowest rate, Tender Notice Number and Date, and Approved C.B.R. True Extract Copy for the work of Hiring of Water Lorries for supply of Drinking Water in various localities in Secunderabad Cantonment Board area, for 5000 and 9000 Liters for the financial year 2012-2013.
CIC/IARMY/A/2017/146120/SD
Names of participants/Agencies, Lowest Tender Percentage Rate, Name of Agencies quoted lowest rate, Tender Notice Number and Date, and Approved C.B.R. True Extract Copy for the work of Repairs and Maintenance of pump motors, including its spares, OCB’s & electrical installations ranging from 25HP to 250 HP and installation of pump house control panels of various pumping stations in various localities in Secunderabad Cantonment Board area for the financial year 2012-2013.
CIC/IARMY/A/2017/146123/SD
Names of participants/Agencies, Lowest Tender Percentage Rate, Name of Agencies quoted lowest rate, Tender Notice Number and Date, and Approved C.B.R. True Extract Copy for the work of Removal /Repair/Re-installation of Submersible Pumps/Jet Pumps /Mono Blocks Pumps ranging from 1 HP to 15 HP in various localities in Secunderabad Cantonment Board area for the financial year 2012-2013.
CIC/IARMY/A/2017/146699/SD
Names of participants/Agencies, Lowest Tender Percentage Rate, Name of Agencies quoted lowest rate, Tender Notice Number and Date, and Approved C.B.R. True Extract Copy for the work of Annual Maintenance and Erection of Street Light Fittings on Street Light poles in various in localities in Secunderabad Cantonment Board area for the financial year 2012-2013.
CIC/IARMY/A/2017/147046/SD
Names of participants/Agencies, Lowest Tender Percentage Rate, Name of Agencies quoted lowest rate, Tender Notice Number and Date, and Approved C.B.R. True Extract Copy, for the work of Drilling of 6 and ½” Borewell, Supply and fixing of Submersible pumpsets for Augmentation of Water supply in various localities in Secunderabad Cantonment Board area, for the financial year 2012-2013 and subject related matter.
CIC/DODEF/A/2017/147095/SD
Names of participants/Agencies, Lowest Tender Percentage Rate, Name of Agencies quoted lowest rate, Tender Notice Number and Date, and Approved C.B.R. number for the work of maintenance and repairs of GI/CI/RCC/DI Pipes including laying of various sizes in various localities in Secunderabad Cantonment Board area for the financial year 2012-2013.
Grounds for the Second Appeal:
The CPIO has not provided the desired information.
Relevant Facts emerging during Hearing:
The following were present:-
Appellant: Not present Respondent:
Respondent: Raj Kumar, Supdt (Water Works) & FAA and Savan Kumar, AE & CPIO, O/o Asst Engineer, Water Works Department, Secunderabad Cantonment Board present through VC.
FAA submitted that Appellant is incessantly harping on information related to these tenders when all the data is available in public domain. He further submitted that in the recent past, Cantt. Board has launched e-tendering for better transparency and probity in the tender process, yet Appellant has filed so many RTI Applications on this subject matter.
FAA desired to bring on record that the Appellant has sent more that 380 RTI Applications in the name of various firms owned by him and his brother C Anil with a clear intent to obstruct public functioning of their office. FAA further alleged that Appellant has gone to the extent of threatening him with creating more troubles by filing RTI Applications and First Appeals so that he has no time for any other work of the office. Furthermore, FAA stated that Appellant has been called for so many First Appeal hearing(s), however, he does not offer any comments as to why he believes the reply provided by CPIO is not satisfactory. It was urged that they are immensely disturbed by the activities of the Appellant and unable to execute their other responsibilities. He brought the attention of the Commission to the fact that ever since Cantt. Board has introduced e-tendering process, Appellant and his brother have remained unsuccessful and their generation old standing with Cantt. Board has suffered. It is in the context of this grievance that Appellant is trying to target office administration to acquire contracts. It was also averred that in the course of acquiring tenders, Appellant’s firms have submitted dubious certificates and even as he filed a case with the Hon’ble High Court of Andhra Pradesh for not awarding the contract, his case was dismissed. In addition to this, Appellant’s firm A S Enterprises has sent umpteen representations to release an amount of approx 30 lakhs for non-existing work orders. To conclude, FAA stated that such is the impact of Appellant’s RTI Applications that the only two Assistant Engineers of Water Works Department are completely engaged in replying to these RTI Applications leaving out on other responsibilities which is causing disproportionate diversion of the resources of the public authority.
Observations
Commission observes from the facts on record that the RTI Application(s) in all these cases has been signed merely as ‘’For A S Enterprises, Managing Partner’’. It may be noted that Section 3 of the RTI Act stipulates that
“Subject to the provisions of this Act, all citizens shall have the right to information.”
Since the Appellant in the instant cases is an Enterprise and not any citizen seeking information in his individual capacity, the same is not covered under Section 3 of the RTI Act. It would have been appropriate for the Enterprise to have the RTI Applications signed in the name of an individual. It is pertinent to note that the First Appeals & Second Appeals have also been signed as ‘’For A S Enterprises, Managing Partner’’, however, name of the Managing Partner has been mentioned in the contents of the respective Appeals. It may be noted that the name of Mr. C Sunil appears to have been gathered by the Central Registry of CIC during the registration of the Appeal from the contents of respective Second Appeal(s).
Decision
In light of the foregoing observations, no action is warranted against the reply provided by the CPIO in the instant cases. The Appeal(s) stand to be dismissed.
Now, as regards the averments of the FAA during hearing, Commission takes into consideration the difficulties faced by them due to the influx of Appellant’s RTI Applications and alleged harassment caused by him. Commission has also heard a number of Appeals of the same Appellant and concedes with the contention of the FAA that most of the RTI Applications are frivolous in nature. It appears that the Appellant has grossly misconceived the idea of exercising his Right to Information as being absolute and unconditional.
The observation of the Hon'ble Supreme Court's in the matter of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) & anr. v. Aditya Bandhopadhyay and others [(2011) 8 SCC 497] is relevant wherein it has been held as under:
"37. The right to information is a cherished right. Information and right to information are intended to be formidable tools in the hands of responsible citizens to fight corruption and to bring in transparency and accountability. The provisions of RTI Act should be enforced strictly and all efforts should be made to bring to light the necessary information under clause (b) of section 4(1) of the Act which relates to securing transparency and accountability in the working of public authorities and in discouraging corruption. But in regard to other information,(that is information other than those enumerated in section 4(1)(b) Every public authority shall publish within one hundred and twenty days from the enactment of this Act,- (i) the particulars of its organisation, functions and duties; (ii) the powers and duties of its officers and employees; (iii) the procedure followed in the decision making process, including channels of supervision and accountability; (iv) the norms set by it for the discharge of its functions; (v) the rules, regulations, instructions, manuals and records, held by it or under its control or used by its employees for discharging its functions; (vi) a statement of the categories of documents that are held by it or under its control; (vii) the particulars of any arrangement that exists for consultation with, or representation by, the members of the public in relation to the formulation of its policy or implementation thereof; (viii) a statement of the boards, councils, committees and other bodies consisting of two or more persons constituted as its part or for the purpose of its advice, and as to whether meetings of those boards, councils, committees and other bodies are open to the public, or the minutes of such meetings are accessible for public; (ix) a directory of its officers and employees; (x) the monthly remuneration received by each of its officers and employees, including the system of compensation as provided in its regulations; (xi) the budget allocated to each of its agency, indicating the particulars of all plans, proposed expenditures and reports on disbursements made; (xii) the manner of execution of subsidy programmes, including the amounts allocated and the details of beneficiaries of such programmes; (xiii) particulars of recipients of concessions, permits or authorisations granted by it; (xiv) details in respect of the information, available to or held by it, reduced in an electronic form; (xv) the particulars of facilities available to citizens for obtaining information, including the working hours of a library or reading room, if maintained for public use; (xvi) the names, designations and other particulars of the Public Information Officers; (xvii) such other information as may be prescribed and thereafter update these publications every year; Every public authority shall publish within one hundred and twenty days from the enactment of this Act,- (i) the particulars of its organisation, functions and duties; (ii) the powers and duties of its officers and employees; (iii) the procedure followed in the decision making process, including channels of supervision and accountability; (iv) the norms set by it for the discharge of its functions; (v) the rules, regulations, instructions, manuals and records, held by it or under its control or used by its employees for discharging its functions; (vi) a statement of the categories of documents that are held by it or under its control; (vii) the particulars of any arrangement that exists for consultation with, or representation by, the members of the public in relation to the formulation of its policy or implementation thereof; (viii) a statement of the boards, councils, committees and other bodies consisting of two or more persons constituted as its part or for the purpose of its advice, and as to whether meetings of those boards, councils, committees and other bodies are open to the public, or the minutes of such meetings are accessible for public; (ix) a directory of its officers and employees; (x) the monthly remuneration received by each of its officers and employees, including the system of compensation as provided in its regulations; (xi) the budget allocated to each of its agency, indicating the particulars of all plans, proposed expenditures and reports on disbursements made; (xii) the manner of execution of subsidy programmes, including the amounts allocated and the details of beneficiaries of such programmes; (xiii) particulars of recipients of concessions, permits or authorisations granted by it; (xiv) details in respect of the information, available to or held by it, reduced in an electronic form; (xv) the particulars of facilities available to citizens for obtaining information, including the working hours of a library or reading room, if maintained for public use; (xvi) the names, designations and other particulars of the Public Information Officers; (xvii) such other information as may be prescribed and thereafter update these publications every year; and (c) of the Act), equal importance and emphasis are given to other public interests (like confidentiality of sensitive information, fidelity and fiduciary relationships, efficient operation of governments, etc.). Indiscriminate and impractical demands or directions under RTI Act for disclosure of all and sundry information (unrelated to transparency and accountability in the functioning of public authorities and eradication of corruption) would be counter-productive as it will adversely affect the efficiency of the administration and result in the executive getting bogged down with the nonproductive work of collecting and furnishing information. The Act should not be allowed to be misused or abused, to become a tool to obstruct the national development and integration, or to destroy the peace, tranquility and harmony among its citizens. Nor should it be converted into a tool of oppression or intimidation of honest officials striving to do their duty. The nation does not want a scenario where 75% of the staff of public authorities spends 75% of their time in collecting and furnishing information to applicants instead of discharging their regular duties. The threat of penalties under the RTI Act and the pressure of the authorities under the RTI Act should not lead to employees of a public authorities prioritising 'information furnishing', at the cost of their normal and regular duties."
Similarly, in ICAI v. Shaunak H. Satya, (2011) 8 SCC781 the Hon'ble Supreme Court has held that:-
"39. We however agree that it is necessary to make a distinction in regard to information intended to bring transparency, to improve accountability and to reduce corruption, falling under Sections 4(1)(b) Every public authority shall publish within one hundred and twenty days from the enactment of this Act,- (i) the particulars of its organisation, functions and duties; (ii) the powers and duties of its officers and employees; (iii) the procedure followed in the decision making process, including channels of supervision and accountability; (iv) the norms set by it for the discharge of its functions; (v) the rules, regulations, instructions, manuals and records, held by it or under its control or used by its employees for discharging its functions; (vi) a statement of the categories of documents that are held by it or under its control; (vii) the particulars of any arrangement that exists for consultation with, or representation by, the members of the public in relation to the formulation of its policy or implementation thereof; (viii) a statement of the boards, councils, committees and other bodies consisting of two or more persons constituted as its part or for the purpose of its advice, and as to whether meetings of those boards, councils, committees and other bodies are open to the public, or the minutes of such meetings are accessible for public; (ix) a directory of its officers and employees; (x) the monthly remuneration received by each of its officers and employees, including the system of compensation as provided in its regulations; (xi) the budget allocated to each of its agency, indicating the particulars of all plans, proposed expenditures and reports on disbursements made; (xii) the manner of execution of subsidy programmes, including the amounts allocated and the details of beneficiaries of such programmes; (xiii) particulars of recipients of concessions, permits or authorisations granted by it; (xiv) details in respect of the information, available to or held by it, reduced in an electronic form; (xv) the particulars of facilities available to citizens for obtaining information, including the working hours of a library or reading room, if maintained for public use; (xvi) the names, designations and other particulars of the Public Information Officers; (xvii) such other information as may be prescribed and thereafter update these publications every year; Every public authority shall publish within one hundred and twenty days from the enactment of this Act,- (i) the particulars of its organisation, functions and duties; (ii) the powers and duties of its officers and employees; (iii) the procedure followed in the decision making process, including channels of supervision and accountability; (iv) the norms set by it for the discharge of its functions; (v) the rules, regulations, instructions, manuals and records, held by it or under its control or used by its employees for discharging its functions; (vi) a statement of the categories of documents that are held by it or under its control; (vii) the particulars of any arrangement that exists for consultation with, or representation by, the members of the public in relation to the formulation of its policy or implementation thereof; (viii) a statement of the boards, councils, committees and other bodies consisting of two or more persons constituted as its part or for the purpose of its advice, and as to whether meetings of those boards, councils, committees and other bodies are open to the public, or the minutes of such meetings are accessible for public; (ix) a directory of its officers and employees; (x) the monthly remuneration received by each of its officers and employees, including the system of compensation as provided in its regulations; (xi) the budget allocated to each of its agency, indicating the particulars of all plans, proposed expenditures and reports on disbursements made; (xii) the manner of execution of subsidy programmes, including the amounts allocated and the details of beneficiaries of such programmes; (xiii) particulars of recipients of concessions, permits or authorisations granted by it; (xiv) details in respect of the information, available to or held by it, reduced in an electronic form; (xv) the particulars of facilities available to citizens for obtaining information, including the working hours of a library or reading room, if maintained for public use; (xvi) the names, designations and other particulars of the Public Information Officers; (xvii) such other information as may be prescribed and thereafter update these publications every year; and (c) and other information which may not have a bearing on accountability or reducing corruption. The competent authorities under the RTI Act will have to maintain a proper balance so that while achieving transparency, the demand for information does not reach unmanageable proportions affecting other public interests, which include efficient operation of public authorities and the Government, preservation of confidentiality of sensitive information and optimum use of limited fiscal resources."
In the matter of Rajni Maindiratta- Vs Directorate of Education (North West - B) [W.P.(C) No. 7911/2015] the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi has held that:
"8. Though undoubtedly, the reason for seeking the information is not required to be disclosed but when it is found that the process of the law is being abused, the same become relevant. Neither the authorities created under the RTI Act nor the Courts are helpless if witness the provisions of law being abused and owe a duty to immediately put a stop thereto."
A more lucid rationale can be drawn in the facts of the present matter by referring to the matter of Shail Sahni vs Sanjeev Kumar [W.P.(C) 845/2014] wherein the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi has held that:
"...In the opinion of this Court, the primary duty of the officials of Ministry of Defence is to protect the sovereignty and integrity of India. If the limited manpower and resources of the Directorate General, Defence Estates as well as the Cantonment Board are devoted to address such meaningless queries, this Court is of the opinion that the entire office of the Directorate General, Defence Estates Cantonment Board would come to stand still."
"This Court is also of the view that misuse of the RTI Act has to be appropriately dealt with, otherwise the public would lose faith and confidence in this "sunshine Act". A beneficent Statute, when made a tool for mischief and abuse must be checked in accordance with law."
It may also be noted that the Hon’ble Delhi High Court subsequent to the above judgment in the matter of Shail Sahni vs Smt. Valsa Sara Mathew & Ors [W.P.(C) 406/2016] imposed a cost on the RTI Applicant with the following observation:
‘’6. Since, despite the aforesaid judgment, the petitioner is still filing general, irrelevant and vague queries, this Court dismisses the present writ petition with costs of Rs. 25,000/- to be paid by the petitioner to the Lok Nayak Hospital, New Delhi within a period of three weeks.”
Appellant is hereby cautioned to take note of the aforesaid dicta and is advised to exercise his right to information judiciously in future.
The appeal(s) are dismissed.
(Divya Prakash Sinha)
Information Commissioner
Citation: C Sunil v. Water Works Department, Secunderabad Cantonment in File No. : CIC/IARMY/A/2017/144305/SD CIC/IARMY/A/2017/144421/SD CIC/IARMY/A/2017/146120/SD CIC/IARMY/A/2017/146123/SD CIC/IARMY/A/2017/146699/SD CIC/IARMY/A/2017/147046/SD CIC/DODEF/A/2017/147095/SD, Date of Decision: 05/07/2018