Information regarding deduction made towards house rent & HRA eligible to the appellant’s deceased husband for a specific period was sought - CIC: the appellant may provide the details of posting to the respondents to enable them to locate the information
12 Jan, 2015ORDER
1. The appellant, Smt. Prema Bhatt, submitted RTI application dated 6 February 2013 before the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), State Bank of India, New Delhi; seeking information regarding deduction made towards house rent & HRA eligible to the post held by the appellant’s deceased husband Shri Kulanand Bhatt for the period from 15.11.1988 to 31.1.2000 etc., through a total of 2 points.
2. Vide reply dated 25 March 2013, CPIO denied information on the ground that the matter was subjudice and information pertained to a period earlier than 20 years. Not satisfied with the reply of the CPIO, the appellant preferred an appeal dated 5 May 2013 to the first appellate authority (FAA) alleging that she had been wrongly denied the information by the CPIO concerned. Vide order dated 18 June 2013, the FAA observed that the reply given by CPIO concerned is not maintainable and directed to provide the information within 15 days, if available.
3. Dissatisfied with the response of the public authority, the appellant preferred second appeal before the Commission.
4. The matter was heard by the Commission. The appellant submitted that the information was sought under RTI to know month wise/year wise House Rent Recoveries made from appellant’s deceased husband’s salary from 15.11.1988 to 31.1.2000 and the rate of House Rent Allowance admissible in the event of the non occupation of flat. The appellant submitted that the respondent had provided incomplete and incorrect information. The appellant also stated that information regarding deduction of house rent recovery was available with P&E department but he had not been given the requisite information by the respondents. The respondent submitted that information as available with them had been provided to the appellant vide letter dated 4.7.2013 and it was also informed to appellant that her husband was expired on 17.8.1988 and salary was not payable thereafter. They added that information in respect of HR recovery was not maintained by P& E department as contended by the appellant. The respondent also submitted that they were unable to provide the information as they do not have the posting details. They further added that if the appellant provided the posting details, the respondent would try to locate the information from the branch/office where he was posted.
5. In view of the above, the appellant may provide the details of posting to the respondents. The Commission directs the respondent to provide complete information after locating the same within three weeks of the receipt of the information from appellant. The appeal is disposed of.
(Manjula Prasher)
Information Commissioner
Citation: Smt. Prema Bhatt v. State Bank of India in Appeal: No. CIC/VS/A/2013/002157/MP