Central Information Commission
Appeal No.CIC/SM/A/2009/000380 dated 16-09-2008
Right to Information Act-2005-Under Section (19)
Dated: 4 December 2009
Name of the Appellant : Shri Bhagwant Kishore Gupta
S/o Shri Banarsi Dass Advocate,
Distt. - Courts, Hoshiarpur,
Punjab.
Name of the Public Authority : CPIO, Punjab National Bank,
Inspection Section, Circle Office,
Hoshiarpur, Punjab.
The Appellant was present in person.
On behalf of the Respondent, the following were present:-
(i) Shri Khurana, CPIO,
(ii) Shri Saroop, ACPIO
The brief facts of the case are as under.
2. The Appellant had, in his application dated September 16, 2008,
requested the CPIO for the certified copies of the enquiry order, statements
of the witnesses and the final order passed by the competent authority in
the case of the disciplinary proceedings against GD Rishi, Senior Manager. In
his reply dated September 30, 2008, the CPIO denied the information citing
the exemption provisions contained in Section 8(1) (d) and (j) of the Right to
Information (RTI) Act. Not satisfied with this reply, he had moved the
Appellate Authority on November 12, 2008. The Appellate Authority
endorsed the decision of the CPIO in his order dated November 12, 2008. It
is against this order that the Appellant has come before the CIC in second
appeal.
3. We heard this case through videoconferencing. Both the parties were
present in the Hosiarpur studio of the NIC. We heard their arguments and
submissions. After carefully considering the arguments offered by the CPIO
and the Appellate Authority and the submissions made by the Respondent
during the hearing, we think that the CPIO had denied the information on
CIC/SM/A/2009/000380
wrong grounds. The disciplinary proceedings instituted against an employee
of the public authority in public interest cannot be styled as personal
information or necessarily as in the nature of commercial confidence. Once
the proceedings are completed and the competent authority passes the final
orders, the details about such enquiry should be available in the public
domain except such information which is otherwise exempt from disclosure
under any of the provisions of Section 8 of the RTI Act. For example, the
order instituting the disciplinary proceedings and the final order of the
competent authority are purely administrative orders and have got to be
disclosed without any reservation. As far as the statements of the witnesses
are concerned, those could be denied only if they attract any of the
exemption provisions of the above Section.
4. In view of the above, we direct the CPIO to provide to the Appellant
within 15 working days from the receipt of this order, the certified copies of
the order of enquiry and the final orders in respect of the said disciplinary
proceedings. In regard to the statements of the witnesses including that of
the charged employee, the copies of those shall be supplied excluding all
references, if any, to any specific detail about the accounts of third-party
customers of the Bank.
5. With the above direction, the appeal is disposed off.
6. Copies of this order be given free of cost to the parties.
(Satyananda Mishra)
Information Commissioner
Authenticated true copy. Additional copies of orders shall be supplied against
application and payment of the charges prescribed under the Act to the CPIO of this
Commission.
(Vijay Bhalla)
Assistant Registrar
CIC/SM/A/2009/000380