Information regarding a PSU employee who was an independent witness in a CBI investigation against the appellant was sought - CIC: Provide the date of joining, posting details and the no. of cases in which he was a witness; denial of rest upheld
10 Dec, 2015ORDER
1. The appellant submitted RTI application dated May 26, 2014 before the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), National Insurance Co. Ltd., Angul; seeking information regarding the service details of Shri Kumud Pal, AO who had acted as an independent witness against him in a CBI investigation etc.; through a total of 4 points.
2. Vide letter dated June 11, 2014; the CPIO denied the information on the ground that matter was subjudice and under the CBI investigation. Not satisfied with the CPIO's reply, the appellant preferred an appeal dated July 14, 2014 to the first appellate authority (FAA). Vide order dated August 13, 2014; the FAA upheld the CPIO's decision and denied it u/s 8(1)(h) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders; of the RTI Act, 2005.
3. Dissatisfied with the response of the public authority, the appellant preferred the present appeal before the Commission.
4. The matter was heard by the Commission. The appellant was not present during the hearing in spite of a notice for hearing having been sent to him. The respondents submitted that the appellant had sought information regarding one of their employees who was an independent witness in a CBI investigation against the appellant which they had denied treating it as personal information of the third party hence exempt u/s 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. of the RTI Act, 2005. They stated that as per the CVC guideline the respondent company being a PSU is required to assist the CBI in their investigation by providing man power and transport as and when required by them. The man power is required to act as witness during their investigation, for compliance of the legal requirement. Due to this reason only, Shri Kumud Pal, AO had been assigned to attend the investigation involving the appellant. They had denied information in view of the continuation of the investigation.
5. In view of the above, the Commission directs the respondents to provide information on point nos. 1, 2 & 3 of the RTI Act, 2005 which is not related to the investigation in the case but gets the date of joining, posting details and the no. of cases in which Shri Kumud Pal was a witness to the appellant within a week of the receipt of this order. The information sought under point 4 is third party information as it relates to the business transaction of one Shri R K Shukla and is therefore exempt u/s 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. of the RTI Act, 2005 and cannot be provided to the appellant. The appeal is disposed of.
(Manjula Prasher)
Information Commissioner
Citation: Shri Suresh Sivanandan v. National Insurance Co. Ltd., in Appeal No. CIC/MP/A/2014/002165