CENTRAL INFORMATION COMMISSION
...
F.No. CIC/AT/A/2008/01386
Dated, the 4th June, 2009
Appellant : Shri Maneesh Akhoury
Respondents : Directorate General of Vigilance
Customs and Central Excise
This matter came up for hearing on 01.06.2009 pursuant to
Commission’s notice dated 15.04.2009. Appellant–assisted by his counsel–
was present at NIC facility at Bangalore, while the respondents were
present at NIC facility at Chennai. Commission conducted the hearing
from its office at New Delhi.
2. Appellant’s second-appeal-petition is about non-disclosure of
information relating to item No. 2 (ix) of his RTI-application dated
30.06.2008 which reads as follows:
“Copy of Investigation report on the basis of which the charge
memorandum was issued to Shri Aman Kumar Singh, then
Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise”
3. CPIO through his communication dated 18.07.2008 declined to
disclose this item of information under Section 8(1) (h) of the RTI-Act. AA,
by his order dated 04.09.2008, upheld the decision of CPIO.
4. Respondents stated during the hearing that since the departmental
proceedings were still pending, this information should not be allowed to
be disclosed.
5. It is noticed that besides being a part of an ongoing departmental
proceeding this matter also had 3rd-party aspect. However, when it was
posed to the appellant’s counsel, he argued that this information could
not be treated as 3rd-party information as it was related to an
investigation, which was, in effect, a departmental action.
6. Counsel’s understanding is not correct. The presence of the 3rd-
party in the given matter cannot be overlooked. It is, therefore,
necessary that this matter be re-examined at the level of AA in terms of
Section 11(1) read with Section 2(n) of the RTI Act. A clear determination
about the confidentiality of the requested information — both from the
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points of view of Shri Aman Kumar Singh and the public authority itself,
needs to be made.
7. Matter is accordingly remitted back to AA who shall re-examine the
subject in the light of the above observation. AA shall also invite Shri
Aman Kumar Singh (3rd-party) to file his counter in the matter and, hear
all the parties before taking the decision. Time — 4 weeks of receipt of
this decision.
8. Appeal disposed of accordingly.
9. Copy of this decision be sent to the parties.
(A.N. TIWARI)
Information Commissioner
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