Central Information Commission
Appeal No.CIC/WB/A/2008/00475-SM dated 08.07.2007
Right to Information Act-2005-Under Section (19)
Dated 27.03.2009
Appellant : Gp. Capt. M.P. Singh
Respondent : Army Headquarters, Ministry of Defence
The Appellant is present.
On behalf of the Respondent, the following are present:-
(i) Brig. Ved Parkash, DDG, RTI
(ii) Maj. M. Gahlot, GSO I (Legal)
(iii) Lt. Col. Aroon Nayagam, JDOS (ARMT)
The brief facts of the case are as under.
2. The Appellant had requested the CPIO in an application dated 8 July 2007 for information
regarding allotment of NSP weapons by the Directorate Gen of Ordnance Services. The CPIO in
his reply dated 29 August 2007, provided him with some information on both the queries. He was
not satisfied with the reply given and approached the first Appellate Authority on 15 October
2007. That authority disposed of his appeal by directing the CPIO to provide him with a copy of
SAO 4/S/2006. He has approached the Commission in second appeal against the order of the
first Appellate Authority.
3. During the hearing, we heard the submissions of both the sides. In their response to the
appeal, the Respondent has furnished written comments, a copy of which was handed over to the
Appellant during the hearing itself. These comments contain elaborate details about the allotment
of NSP weapons including the provision for out of turn/priority allotment. The Appellant submitted
that, in the first reply, the CPIO did not provide the total number of applications registered for
such weapons for the period he had indicated but was given a cumulative figure without any
reference to any timeframe. The Respondent clarified that, at that time, he had given the number
of applications pending with reference to the date of application only and the information
regarding the exact number of such applications for this specific period was not available with the
Public Authority concerned and this had to be collected specifically from some other
establishment.
4. The Appellant had specifically wanted to know about the out of turn allotment of weapons
and the basis/rules on which such out-of-turn allotment were being made. We note that though
CIC/WB/A/2008/00475-SM
the CPIO has provided details about the number of such out of turn allotments and the
mechanism by which such allotments are made, he has not referred to any particular government
order or authority based on which the out of turn allotment of weapons is made. We, therefore,
direct the CPIO to provide a copy of the relevant order/authority, if any, on the out of turn
allotment or NSP weapons to service personnel and others within 10 working days from the
receipt of this order. In case there is no such authority/government order on the subject, the CPIO
shall specifically mention about that in its communication to the Appellant.
5. The Appellant wanted to know the basis for the distribution of the weapons among the
three services. Since he had not asked for this information originally, we advise him to request
the CPIO in the Ministry of Defence for this information separately.
6. With the above directions, we dispose off this appeal.
7. Copies of this order be given free of cost to the parties.
Sd/-
(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/WB/A/2008/00475-SM