Central Information Commission
Room No. 305 BWing, August Kranti Bhawan,
Bhikaji Kama Place, New Delhi - 110066
Tel No: 26167931
Case No. CIC/SS/A/2011/001181
Name of the Appellant : Mr. B.B. Bisht
(The Appellant was not present)
Name of the Public Authority : Ministry of Social Justice
Represented by Mr. V.R. Malhotra, Director,
Mr. R. Ramamurthy, Deputy Secretary &
Mr.M.L. Tiwari, S.O.
The matter was heard on : 3.11.2011
ORDER
Shri B.B. Bisht, the Appellant had filed an RTI application dated 29.3.2011 seeking
information on 10 points from the CPIO of the Respondent Public Authority. In his 2 nd
appeal filed before the Commission, the appellant has only expressed his dissatisfaction
with the reply provided to him on point No. 1, 2, 3 & 4 of the RTI application. Point No. 1,
2, 3 & 4 of his RTI application are reproduced below:
1. List of Caste & Subcaste of Uttarakhand, covering under Centre
Governments’ List of Scheduled Caste.
2. List of Caste & Subcaste covering under the Uttarakhand Governments’
List of Scheduled Caste.
3. List of Caste & Subcaste of Uttarakhand, covering under Centre
Governments’ List of Scheduled Tribes.
4. List of Caste & Subcaste covering under the Uttarakhand Governments’
List of Scheduled Tribe.
With respect to point No. 1 & 2 of his RTI application, the appellant states that he
was asked by Shri V.R. Malhotra, Director & C.P.I.O. vide his letter dated 8.4.2011 to
deposit Rs. 54/ as fees for copies of various Constitution (SC) orders amended up to
date which he paid. The appellant goes on to say that it was clearly written in his
application dated 29.3.2011 that the information sought by him was in respect of
Uttarakhand only. However, on receipt of letter dated 8.4.2011 from the C.P.I.O. it was
noticed that fees has been charged in respect of some unwanted Constitution (SC) orders.
The appellant alleges that undue fees have been charged from him. Moreover, as per the
Appellant, information on list of subcastes has not been provided to him by the CPIO. On
point No. 3 & 4 of his RTI application, it is the contention of the appellant that he has not
received a response from any of the CPIO of the Ministry of Tribal affairs so far.
During the hearing the Respondent CPIO draws the attention of the Commission to
his reply dated 8.4.2011 which reads as follows:
“I am to refer to your application dated 29.3.201, received on 5.4.2011, on the
above subject, seeking information under Right to Information Act, 2005. According the
Right to Information (Regulation of Fee and Cost) Rules, 2005, for obtaining copies of
various Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders, as amended to date, you are required to
pay an amount of Rupees 54/ (Fifty four) only, at the Facilitation Centre of this Ministry,
either by way of cash against proper receipt or Bank Draft or Banker’ Cheque or Indian
Postal Order drawn in favour of Pay and Accounts Officer, Ministry of Social justice and
Empowerment. You can also download list of Scheduled Castes in relation to a
State/Union Territory, from this Ministry’s website i.e. www.msje.nic.in.”
The CPIO submits that upon deposit of Rs. 54/ by the appellant, a copy each
of Constitution (SC) orders, as amended from time to time, was provided to the appellant.
Though the list of SC for Uttarakhand is contained in two or three pages, he did not think it
appropriate to extract any information from the Constitution Orders and therefore provided
the complete set of six orders. He also submits that as per his reply dated 8.4.2011 he
had offered the option to the appellant to down load the list of Scheduled Castes in
relation to a State/Union Territory from the Ministry’s website i.e. www.msje.nic.in. He
also draws the attention of the Commission to the orders of the FAA dated 20.6.2011.
The FAA has observed as follows:
The application dated 29.3.2011, and the reply dated 8.4.2011 of Shri V.K.
Malhotra, Director & CPIO, has been perused. The CPIO in his aforesaid reply had not
emphatically demanded the said amount, and had rather put forth two choices for the
applicant i.e. (i) the applicant download list of Scheduled Castes in relation to a
State/Union Territory, from his Ministry’s website, the address of which was mentioned, (ii)
for obtaining copies of various Constitution (Scheduled Castes) ‘Orders’, the applicant was
required to pay the said amount. In his said reply, the CPIO had used the word various
‘Orders’ and not ‘Order’. The decision hereon, thus, had to be made by the applicant.
The applicant in case of uncertainty /ambiguity of the position stated by the CPIO in his
said reply could seek clarification from him. It is seen, from the record that the appellant
did not seek any clarification, and having opted to get a copy of various Orders, vide his
letter dated 23.4.2011, sent the I.P.Os of the required amount. In response thereto, the
CPIO vide his letter dated 9.5.2011, sent a copy of each of the Orders. It is also
mentioned that after the formation of State of Uttaranchal in 2000 (renamed as
Uttarakhand), so far, no modification in the list of Scheduled Castes in relation to the State
of Uttarakhand has been done.”
Point No. 3 & 4 of the RTI application had been transferred to the Ministry of Tribal
Affairs by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment. The representative of Ministry of
Tribal Affairs states that Shri Ajit Gopal, Director & CPIO, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, has
vide his reply dated 21.10.2011 provided a list showing STs of Uttrakhand. Both
Respondents state that there is no Central Govt. list of subcastes.
Having heard the Respondent the Commission is of the view that the list of
Scheduled Castes in Uttarakhand has been provided to the appellant by the Respondent,
not only by way of providing the documents but also by referring him to the website from
where the information can be collected. The Commission also observes that the CPIO,
Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment offered the option to the appellant to either
obtain copies of the required documents or to obtain It himself from the website. No
malafide intention, therefore, can be attributed to the CPIO, Ministry of Social Justice &
Empowerment in asking the appellant for a fees of Rs.54/.
Complete requisite information has also been provided to the Appellant by the
Ministry of Tribal Affairs. However, since the appellant seems not to have received a copy
of the reply, in the interest of transparency, the PIO is directed to once again provide a
copy of the reply to the appellant within 2 weeks of receipt of Commission’s order.
With these observations and directions the matter is disposed of on the part of the
Commission.
Sd/
(Sushma Singh)
Information Commissioner
11.11.2011
Authenticated true copy
(D. C. Singh)
Dy. Registrar
Copy to:
1. Mr. B.S. Bisht,
III/58, North West Moti Bagh,
New Delhi – 110021.
2. The C.P.I.O.
Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment,
Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi.
3. The First Appellate Authority,
Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment,
Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi.