CIC: Provide the documents of Ministry of Defence applicable to its combatant Army officer for private business, trade, private employment & speculate in share trading during service - CIC: Documents applicable to Civilian officer to speculate in shares
2 Oct, 2022Information Sought:
The appellant has sought the following information:
1. Provide documents of Ministry of Defence (MOD) applicable to its combatant Army officer for private business, trade & private employment.
2. Provide documents of MOD applicable to its combatant Army officer to speculate in share trading during his service.
3. Provide documents of MOD applicable to its civilian officer to speculate in share trading during his service.
4. And other related information.
Grounds for filing Second Appeal:
The CPIO did not provide the desired information.
Submissions made by Appellant and Respondent during Hearing:
The appellant submitted that he is not satisfied with the reply of the CPIO. He reiterated that certified documents were not provided in respect of points no. 1,2 and 4 of the RTI application. In respect of point no. 5 he submitted that no documents were provided. The CPIO submitted that information sought in point no. 5 is not clear or specific and the same seems hypothetical. Furthermore, he submitted that certified documents as requested in respect of points no. 1, 2 and 4 of the RTI application shall be given.
Observations:
Based on a perusal of the record, it was noted that the CPIO vide letter dated 18.01.2021 replied to the appellant on points 1, 2, 4 and 5 of the RTI application and stated that the information is being ascertained and may be provided on receipt from the concerned agency, subject to availability. In respect of point no. 3 the CPIO provided 4 pages of documents to the appellant. In respect of points 1, 2, 4 and 5 of the RTI application, documents were subsequently provided vide letter dated 01.02.2021.
The Commission observed that documents sought in respect of points no. 1, 2, 4 and 5 was finally given on 01.02.2021 and in respect of point no. 3, documents were already given on 18.01.2021. The FAA vide order dated 05.03.2021 disposed of the appeal and concurred with the CPIO’s reply.
The appellant in his second appeal and during the hearing submitted that certified documents were not provided in respect of points no. 1, 2 and 4 of the RTI application. In respect of point no. 5 he submitted no documents were provided. Therefore, the CPIO was asked to explain, to which he submitted that point no. 5 is a broad topic and the same is not material information available with them. Moreover, any administrative action is taken as per the Army Act.
Decision:
In view of the above observations, the CPIO shall send the certified documents related to points no. 1, 2 and 4 of the RTI application to the appellant within 10 days from the date of receipt of the order. As far as point no 5 is concerned, no further action is called for.
The appeal is disposed of accordingly.
Vanaja N. Sarna
Information Commissioner
Citation: Ritesh Chandra Saxena v. IHQ of MoD Army in File no. CIC/IARMY/A/2021/620340, Date of Decision: 02/09/2022