RTI application seeking information regarding declaration of a person as Bad Character
17 Sep, 2012Background
The appellant filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking information in respect of crackers licenses issued by PS Narela from 2006 to 2011. He also sought photocopies of his complete file declaring him as Bad Character (BC) and criteria for declaring a person B.C. The Public Information Officer (PIO) provided part information but denied the copy of his file of B.C under sections 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; 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; & 8(1)(g) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information, the disclosure of which would endanger the life or physical safety of any person or identify the source of information or assistance given in confidence for law enforcement or security purposes; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information, the disclosure of which would endanger the life or physical safety of any person or identify the source of information or assistance given in confidence for law enforcement or security purposes; of the RTI Act.
Proceeding
During the hearing before the Central Information Commission (CIC), the respondent submitted that the information regarding declaration of BC cannot be provided since the B.C. file contains information such as the companion details of the BC, history of crime, information provided to the police by informers, name of associates involved in crime, details of persons providing shelter to the BC etc. which is exempted under sections 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; 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 8(1)(g) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information, the disclosure of which would endanger the life or physical safety of any person or identify the source of information or assistance given in confidence for law enforcement or security purposes; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information, the disclosure of which would endanger the life or physical safety of any person or identify the source of information or assistance given in confidence for law enforcement or security purposes; of the RTI Act.
View of CIC
The Central Information Commission (CIC) accepted the contentions of the respondent and observed that sought information is exempt from disclosure under section 8(1) (e) and 8 (1) (g) of the RTI Act.
Citation: Mr. Gyanendra v. Delhi Police, in Case No. CIC/SS/A/2012/000859
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2012/CIC/650
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission