Information regarding Phase III Metro Rail route was sought under RTI
21 Nov, 2012
Background
The appellant filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation seeking information regarding Phase III Metro Rail route from Mukandpur to Yamuna Vihar Delhi including name of the government or state government who approved this route and total amount worked out to complete the project and other pertinent issues in the matter. The Public Information Officer (PIO) provided the information to the appellant.
Proceeding
During the hearing before the Central Information Commission (CIC), the appellant stated the supporting documents which were expected had not been given by the respondent and neither had he been given the traffic survey details or the details of the approvals pertinent to the phase III Metro Rail route. The appellant also sought details about the project report and project scheduling. The respondent stated that they had provided the information as available with them. It was also stated that the information sought by the appellant was actually with reference to a newspaper's clipping hence there was lack of specificity about the questions. The appellant argued that the DPR was not covered by the IPR norms and hence it was not covered under the exemption from disclosure under 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.
of the RTI Act. On being asked by the respondent to tell the purpose of seeking information, the appellant stated that the purpose was to ensure transparency in the functioning of the respondent's organization but also argued that seeking of the appellant's purpose by the respondent was not relevant as per the Act.
View of CIC
The Commission observed that any information protected by IPRs will be covered under section 8(1) (d) of the RTI Act, and need not be disclosed. The Commission further directed the respondent to provide to the appellant the traffic survey details and the details of the approvals pertinent to the phase III Metro Rail route.
Citation: Mr. Kailash Chand Gupta v. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation in Decision No.CIC/DS/A/2011/003148/VS/01257
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2012/CIC/810
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission