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Decision No. CIC/SG/A/2010/002673/10110Adjunct
Appeal No. CIC/SG/A/2010/002673
Relevant Facts
emerging from the Appeal
Appellant : Mr. Surinder Singh Dhankar
C-2/120, Janak Puri,
New Delhi – 110058.
Respondent : Mr. S. C. Yadav
Public Information Officer &
Jt. Assessor and Collector (Admin)/HQ
Municipal Corporation of Delhi
Property Tax Building, Ring Road,
Lajpat Nagar - III, New Delhi - 110024.
RTI application filed on : 02/02/2010
PIO replied : 23/04/2010
First appeal filed on : 14/04/2010
First Appellate Authority order : 26/07/2010
Second Appeal received on : 24/09/2010
Notice of Hearing sent on : 19/10/2010
S. No. Information Sought Reply of the PIO
1. Name of the officer under whose instruction As the matter of release of payment was sub-judice,
the GPF, Gratuity Amount, PF and pension payment had been stopped.
arrear of Ms. Motia Dhankar was withheld.
2. Details of the rule under which the said As per reply in point no. G (i) above.
amounts had been withheld.
3. Whether entries of the GPF communication Missing entries were to be retrieved after
had been retrieved or not. verification of deduction of GPF vouchers and
passing of contingency bills.
4. Details of terminal benefits as on The total terminal benefits of deceased Ms. Motia
02/02/2010 of Ms. Motia Dhankar. Dhankar was to be calculated after codal formalities
of retirement/death cases. Moreover, the matter was
sub-judice in the court.
First Appeal:
Incomplete and unsatisfactory information received from the PIO..
Order of the FAA:
The PIO/HQ was directed to give full information as per available record to the Appellant.
Ground of the Second Appeal:
Non-compliance of the FAA’s order by the PIO.
Relevant Facts emerging during Hearing held on November 22, 2010:
The following were present
Appellant : Mr. Surinder Singh Dhankar;
Respondent : Mr. S. C. Yadav, Public Information Officer & Jt. Assessor and Collector(Admin)/HQ; Mr.
M. C. Jha, Dy. Assessor and Collector & APIO;
“The Deemed PIO Mr. M. C. Jha who was present at the First Appellate hearing has not provided
the information as per the order of the FAA. He claims that he was trying to resolve the grievance of the
Appellant. This is completely untenable argument. When a citizen exercises his right under RTI he must
be provided information on the status or the reasons on the record for taking or not taking some actions.”
Decision dated November 22, 2010:
The Appeal was allowed.
“The Deemed PIO Mr. M. C. Jha is directed to provide the complete information as
per the records to the Appellant before 05 December 2010.
The issue before the Commission is of not supplying the complete, required information by the
deemed PIO Mr. M. C. Jha, Dy. A&C within 30 days as required by the law.
From the facts before the Commission it is apparent that the deemed PIO is guilty of not furnishing
information within the time specified under sub-section (1) of Section 7 by not replying within 30 days, as
per the requirement of the RTI Act. He has further refused to obey the orders of his superior officer,
which raises a reasonable doubt that the denial of information may also be malafide. The First Appellate
Authority has clearly ordered the information to be given.
It appears that the PIO’s actions attract the penal provisions of Section 20 (1). A showcause notice is
being issued to him, and he is directed give his reasons to the Commission to show cause why penalty
should not be levied on him.
Mr. M. C. Jha, Deemed PIO & Dy. A&C will present himself before the Commission at the above address
on 27 December 2010 at 10.30am alongwith his written submissions showing cause why penalty should
not be imposed on him as mandated under Section 20 (1). He will also bring the information sent to
the appellant as per this decision and submit speed post receipt as proof of having sent the
information to the appellant.
If there are other persons responsible for the delay in providing the information to the Appellant the
PIO is directed to inform such persons of the show cause hearing and direct them to appear before the
Commission with him.”
Relevant facts emerging at the show cause hearing held on December 27, 2010:
The following were present:
Appellant: Mr. Surinder Singh Dhankar;
Respondent: Mr. M. C. Jha, APIO & Dy. A & C.
The Commission noted that further to its order dated 22/11/2010, information was provided to the
Appellant by Mr. M. C. Jha vide letter dated 01/12/2010. It was observed that the information provided in
relation to queries 1 and 2 was completely unsatisfactory. As regards query 3, it was observed that a
request for the information was sent to the AO (HQ) and Dy. A & C, West Zone for verification of the
missing entries, out of which verified details were received only from AO (HQ) and the report of Dy. A &
C, West Zone was still awaited. It appears that Mr. Jha had sought the assistance of the Dy. A & C, West
Zone under Section 5(4) of the RTI Act. However, the Dy. A & C, West Zone failed to furnish the
complete information within the prescribed time limit.
Further, Mr. Jha submitted that the initial reply to the RTI application furnished vide letter dated
08/03/2010 was provided by Mr. S. C. Yadav, PIO & Jt. A & C (Admn.) and that it was Mr. S. C. Yadav
who was required to comply with the order of the FAA.
Adjunct Decision:
In view of the aforesaid, the Commission hereby directs Mr. M. C. Jha, APIO & Dy. A & C to provide
specific reply to queries 1 and 2 to the Appellant before January 17, 2011.
The Dy. A & C, West Zone is hereby directed to provide the complete information in relation to query 3
to the Appellant before January 17, 2011.
Further, Mr. S. C. Yadav, PIO & Jt. A & C (Admn.), Mr. M. C. Jha, APIO & Dy. A & C and the Dy. A &
C, West Zone are hereby directed to appear before the Commission for a show cause hearing at the above
address on January 24, 2011 at 10:30 am. They may make oral or written submissions to the
Commission on that date to show cause why penalty should not be imposed on them under Section 20 of
the RTI Act. They are directed to produce before the Commission copy of the information provided to the
Appellant and any relevant document that they may have relied on in their written submissions. If there
are other persons responsible for not complying with the provisions of the RTI Act who have not been
included in this show cause notice, they are directed to serve this show cause to them and direct them to
appear before the Commission on 24/01/2011 along with them.
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 the RTI Act.
Shailesh Gandhi
Information Commissioner
December 27, 2010
CC: Mr. M. C. Jha, APIO & Dy. A & C (through Mr. S. C. Yadav, PIO & Jt. A & C (Admin));
The Dy. A & C, West Zone (through Mr. S. C. Yadav, PIO & Jt. A & C (Admin)).
(In any correspondence on this decision, mention the complete decision number.)(GJ)