Central Information Commission
2nd Floor, August Kranti Bhawan,
Bhikaji Cama Place, New Delhi - 110 066
Website: www.cic.gov.in
Decision No.3520/IC(A)/2008
F. No.CIC/MA/A/2008/01503
Dated, the 26th December, 2008
Name of the Appellant: Sh. G.P. Dalmia
Name of the Public Authority: The National Small Industries Corporation Ltd.
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Facts
:
1. The case was heard in absence of the appellant on 22/12/2008.
2. The appellant has filed three separate appeals on 13th September 2008,
which are examined together for the sake of convenience.
3. The CPIO stated that the appellant has asked for information through
three separate applications regarding:
(i) The details of petitions filed before the Industries Facilitation Councils
(IFCs) for getting payment of principal amount and/or interest and the
status of those petitions;
(ii) The details of consortiums formed by the respondent for the last twenty
years; and
(iii) The details of seized machines, sale price and the description of
machines lying vacant in different godowns of the respondent.
The CPIO has replied to all the applications. He has, however, refused to furnish
the information under different provisions of the Act.
4. In the course of hearing, the CPIO stated that the information asked for is
vague and the appellant has not specified the required information. He also said
that some of the information asked for pertains to a longer duration of over 15
years or so and that the details of information are available at 38 different
branches of the respondent. It was also mentioned that the appellant has not
indicated as to what was the public interest in seeking voluminous information
and it was also not clear as to how he was affected in the matter.
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“If you don’t ask, you don’t get.” – Mahatma Gandhi
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5. On the basis of the summary details of required information and the
replies given by the CPIO and the Appellate Authority, the implications of
disclosure of information were discussed. The CPIO stated that the desired
information is not available at the Headquarters and that it required to be
compiled from different branches for different years. The CPIO, therefore,
pleaded that the appellant should be asked to clearly specify the information so
that the disclosure of information could be examined.
Decision:
6. U/s 4(1) of the Act, all the public authorities are required to prepare an
index of records and files maintained by them, which facilitates identification and
access to the relevant information.
7. The appellant is accordingly advised to access the required information
maintained by the respondent on the basis of which he should seek inspection of
the relevant records and files so as to clearly specify the required information.
The CPIO is, therefore, directed to allow inspection of records and files on a date
and time mutually convenient to both the parties so that the desired information
could be identified and specified for disclosure to the appellant. Upon inspection
the appellant should submit the list of required information, which should be
furnished as per the provisions of the Act. If any information is to be denied, the
reasons for doing so should be clearly indicated for review, if necessary, by the
Commission.
8. With these observations, the appeal is disposed of.
Sd/-
(Prof. M.M. Ansari)
Central Information Commissioner ii
Authenticated true copy:
(M.C. Sharma)
Assistant Registrar
Name & address of Parties:
1. Shri. G.P. Dalmia, C/o Bihar Solvent Extraction Co., Shahid Ashram Road,
B-Deoghar – 814 112, Dist. Deoghar, Jharkhand
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“All men by nature desire to know.” – Aristotle
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2. Sh. A.K. Aggarwal, CPIO,The National Small Industries Corporation Ltd.,
NSIC Bhavan, Okhla Industrial Estate, New Delhi – 110 020.
3. Shri. S.C. Goyal, Director (Fin.)/Appellate Authority, National Small
Industries Corporation Ltd., NSIC Bhavan, Okhla Industrial Estate, New
Delhi – 110 020.
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