Secretary DoPT directed to institute enquiry to trace the missing records and fix responsibility
10 Jul, 2013Background
The appellant filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) seeking copies of documents regarding the extension in service given to a particular person as DG ICMR. He specifically wanted the copy of communication from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare containing the clarifications sought by the DoPT. The Public Information Officer (PIO) denied the information on the ground that the documents formed part of the ACC papers and were covered under the exemption provisions contained in section 8(1)(i) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, cabinet papers including records of deliberations of the Council of Ministers, Secretaries and other officers: Provided that the decisions of Council of Ministers, the reasons thereof, and the material on the basis of which the decisions were taken shall be made public after the decision has been taken, and the matter is complete, or over: Provided further that those matters which come under the exemptions specified in this section shall not be disclosed; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, cabinet papers including records of deliberations of the Council of Ministers, Secretaries and other officers: Provided that the decisions of Council of Ministers, the reasons thereof, and the material on the basis of which the decisions were taken shall be made public after the decision has been taken, and the matter is complete, or over: Provided further that those matters which come under the exemptions specified in this section shall not be disclosed; of the RTI Act.
Proceedings
During the hearing the before Central Information Commission (CIC), the respondent submitted that the relevant file containing the proposal for grant of extension to the person as DG ICMR was not traceable in the section concerned. The respondent also explained that the file had not been found in the section for quite some time and he had even checked about it after getting the CIC notice but the section still reported that the file was not traceable. The appellant claimed that he should be provided with the relevant records.
View of CIC
The Commission held that the Cabinet papers including the ACC papers must be disclosed after the decision is implemented and over as clearly mentioned in the proviso to section 8(1)(i) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, cabinet papers including records of deliberations of the Council of Ministers, Secretaries and other officers: Provided that the decisions of Council of Ministers, the reasons thereof, and the material on the basis of which the decisions were taken shall be made public after the decision has been taken, and the matter is complete, or over: Provided further that those matters which come under the exemptions specified in this section shall not be disclosed; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, cabinet papers including records of deliberations of the Council of Ministers, Secretaries and other officers: Provided that the decisions of Council of Ministers, the reasons thereof, and the material on the basis of which the decisions were taken shall be made public after the decision has been taken, and the matter is complete, or over: Provided further that those matters which come under the exemptions specified in this section shall not be disclosed; of the RTI Act. The CIC held that if the relevant file is not available in the Department then there is nothing the PIO can disclose. The Commission directed the authorities in the Department to institute an enquiry to trace the records and fix responsibility for its loss. The CIC also ruled that if necessary, the matter should be reported to the police because this is a very important file and contains the decision of the ACC to grant extension which has been questioned by the appellant consistently. The CIC directed the PIO to place the order before the Secretary DoPT for getting the matter probed.
Citation: Mr. J B Sharma v. Department of Personnel & Training in File No. CIC/SM/A/2013/000307
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2013/CIC/1436
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission