Details of travel particulars of passengers are held by Air India in fiduciary capacity - disclosure amounts to invasion of the privacy unless the same is requisitioned by law enforcing authorities
19 Jul, 2013ORDER
1. Dr. Maman Chand Sharma, hereinafter called the appellant, has filed the present appeal dated 27.6.2012 before the Commission against the respondent Airports Authority of India & Air India, Mumbai for not providing information in response to his RTI application dated 21.5.2012. The appellant was absent whereas the respondent were represented by Shri Pramod Kumar, Manager (Operations).
2. The appellant through his RTI application dated 21.5.2012 sought information on the following three queries: “(1) Certified list of passengers who travelled by domestic flight from Mumbai to Delhi on 11.6.2011 between 6.00 pm to 9.00 pm;
(2) Certified list of passengers mentioning names of ASI Desh Raj Dahiya, ASI Suraj Bhan and Vikas s/o Shri Mahender who travelled by domestic flight from Mumbai to Delhi on 11.6.l2011; and
(3) Certified number of flights mentioning the plane by which the aforesaid passengers travelled from Mumbai to Delhi on 11.6.2011”.
The CPIO vide letter No. 52042/RTI/Case- 181/12(M)/958/1110 dated 14.6.2012 informed the appellant that the sought information was not under the control of the AAI. The information may be available with Air India, hence his RTI application has been transferred to the CPIO, Air India u/s 6(3) of the RTI Act vide letter dated 11.6.2012. Thereafter, the CPIO, Air India vide letter No. ED-WR/RIA/2012 dated 23.7.2012 denied disclosure of information under the provisions of Section 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; and Section 8(1)(j) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. of the RTI Act.
3. Aggrieved with the reply of the CPIO, Air India the appellant filed first appeal on before the FAA, Air India. The FAA, Air India vide his order No. CA/RTI/Appeal/2012/367 dated 6.8.2012, while upholding the reply of the CPIO, held that keeping in view the commercial interest, the Company follows the practice of not disclosing the travel particulars of its valued passengers which are personal to them to any third party. Such information is available with Air India not only in a fiduciary relationship but also amounts to invasion on the privacy of an individual unless the same is requisitioned by law enforcing authorities or individual. Therefore, the information was denied to the appellant in terms of Section 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; , Section 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 Section 8(1)(j) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. of the RTI Act.
4. The appellant has, thereafter, filed the present appeal before the Commission.
5. Having perused the documents on file and considered the contention put forth by the respondent, the Commission concurs with the decision of the FAA that the information sought attracts the exemption provisions of Section 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; and Section 8(1)(j) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. of the RTI Act and therefore cannot be disclosed. Moreover, the appellant has not established any larger public interest in the disclosure of this information. The matter is disposed of on the part of the Commission.
(Sushma Singh)
Information Commissioner
Citation: Dr. Maman Chand Sharma v. Airports Authority of India & Air India in Case No. CIC/SS/A/2012/003126