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Decision No. CIC/LS/A/2009/00242/SG/6724
Appeal No. CIC/LS/A/2009/00242/SG
Appellant : Mr. Rakesh Kumar Gupta
38 SFS Flats DDA
Mukherjee Nagar
Delhi 110009
Respondent : Mr. Mohan Lal Ranga
Public Information Officer &
Dy. Director (SFS)
DDA, D Block, 3rd Floor
Vikas Sadan, INA,
New Delhi 110023
RTI Application filed on : 02/01/2007
PIO replied : 01/02/2007 (interim reply)
First Appeal filed on : 26/02/2007
First Appellate Authority order : 16/04/2007
Second Appeal filed on : 18/12/2008
Information sought:
1. Information regarding the allotment of specific SFS flats in the following format in a CD:
Date of specific flat allotment Area of SFS
S.No. Allotee Name File Number Flat Number
1.
2.
2. Information pertaining to the allotment of specific SFS flats which have been allotted
after 1989 in the following format: (copy of print out/hard copy):
Date of specific flat allotment Area of SFS
S.No. Allotee Name File Number Flat Number
1.
2.
3. Inspection of all the records of specific allotment.
Reply of PIO:
An Interim reply was sent on 01/02/2007 wherein the Appellant was informed that the matter is
under consideration and the information will be supplied in due course
Grounds for First Appeal:
Not attached.
Order of the First Appellate Authority:
The concerned PIO has been advised to provide the available information in accordance with the
provisions of the RTI Act.
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Note:
It appears that the case has been filed based on a representation made by the Delhi Development
Authority against the Appellant. They have alleged the following:
• The intentions of the RTI Applicant are not fair and bona fide. He is using the RTI Act in the
furtherance of his business and not in conformity with the RTI Act. He obtains a special
Power of Attorney (example attached) to submit RTI applications on behalf of other
allottees.
• One Ms. Sangeeta Gupta runs a company called Sneh Financial Services which has the same
address as the Appellant. It uses the information received through filing RTI applications.
The company charges fees for activist such as execution of conveyance deed, change of
name and refund of excess amount.
• The information sought in the RTI Application is quite vague and too exhaustive. No specific
details of the SFS scheme/flats for which information has been sought has been given.
• Information sought is available in a large number of files and registers. It is not practically
feasible to compile such huge amount of information.
• The Appellant visited the office and a large number of records were shown to him and he did
not ask for supply of copies of any records nor did he request for any additional time.
Relevant Facts
emerging during Hearing on 18 August 2009:
“The following were present:
Appellant: Mr. Rakesh Gupta;
Respondent: Mr. Rakesh Bhatnagar, Director Housing (I), DDA in May 2008, presently Joint
Commissioner, Department of Trade and Taxes, GNCTD;
Mr. VP Bansal, Deputy Director, LAV Housing;
From the papers it appears that DDA has filed a submission in answer to a show cause notice
issued by the Commission vide Decision No. CIC/WB/A/2007/00750 dated 05/09/2008. The
decision of the Commission is also not here and this Bench does not think it is appropriate for it
to hear the show cause proceedings. Hence the hearing was adjourned.
The Commission obtained the order dated 05/09/2008. The Bench of the Commission
comprising of Dr. OP Kejriwal passed an order on 05/09/2008 in CIC/WB/A/2007/00750 in
which it directed the DDA to provided photocopies of the entire information sought by the
Appellant free of cost by 13/11/2009. He observed in his order that the Respondent had offered
inspection to the Appellant at 5 pm which was a very inconvenient. The Commission noted that
the record consisted of a hundred files. The Commission issued a show cause notice to the
Respondent directing them to explain why a penalty should not be imposed on them.”
A notice of hearing was sent to both the parties on 08/01/2010 to present before the Commission
on 05/02/2010 at 11.30AM.
Relevant Facts emerging during Hearing on 05 February 2010:
The following were present
Appellant: Mr. Rakesh Kumar Gupta;
Respondent: Mr. VP Bansal, Deputy Director, LAV Housing; Mr. Mohan Lal Ranga, PIO &
Dy. Director (SFS), Mr. R. Bhatnagar, Joint Commissioner, Dept. of Trade and Taxes(GNCTD);
The appellant states that he has done the inspection and he wants the copies of the
register after 1990. The PIO states that he thought the appellant wanted the photocopies of the
register form 1967 onwards and some of the old registers and in near tattered condition and
hence it would be difficult to photocopy them. Now the Appellant and the Respondent are in
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agreement that photocopies of the registers form 1990 onwards can be provided very easily. This
will be done before 05 March 2010.
The appellant states that it is necessary for the DDA to computerize the data for all the housing
allotments since this is causing a lot of problems. He alleges that certain flats are being allotted
more than once causing unnecessary problems. He also states that since the records are not
computerized citizens are facing a lot of difficulty. The RTI act requires all records to be
computerized and particularly sensitive matters like housing allotment should be given first
priority. Mr. O.P.Gupta Director Housing states that DDA has been considering various options
and struggling to computerize all its records. Even now they are in discussions with some
vendors to understand by when they would be able to do this. The director states that the total
number of flats allotted will be less than 4 lac. A simple computerization of records for an
allotment of 4 lac flats should have been done within atleast one year of the RTI ACT coming
in. If in 2010 DDA states that it is still in the process of finalizing the matter is not able to give
the date by which this will be done it appears to show a lack of will to do this.
Decision:
The appeal is allowed.
The photocopies of the records for the period of 1990 onwards will be provided to the
Appellant before 05 March 2010.
This decision is announced in open chamber.
Notice of this decision be given free of cost to the parties.
Any information in compliance with this Order will be provided free of cost as per Section 7(6) of RTI Act.
Shailesh Gandhi
Information Commissioner
05 February 2010
(In any correspondence on this decision, mention the complete decision number.) ShG
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