Central Information Commission, New Delhi
File No.CIC/SM/A/2010/000989
Right to Information Act2005Under Section (19)
Date of hearing : 11 April 2011
Date of decision : 11 April 2011
Name of the Appellant : Shri Pankaj Mulshankar Jani
Jay Somnath, 3 Ramnagar Bandh Sheri,
Near Rammandir, Gondal Road,
Rajkot.
Name of the Public Authority : CPIO, UCO Bank,
Zonal Office, UCO Bhawan,
Near Sanyas Ashram, Ashram Road,
Ahmedabad.
The Appellant was present in person.
On behalf of the Respondent, Shri Veer Raghwan was present.
Chief Information Commissioner : Shri Satyananda Mishra
2. We heard this case through video conferencing. The Appellant was
present in the Rajkot studio of the NIC. The Respondent was present in the
Ahmedabad studio. We heard their submissions.
3. The Appellant had sought the copy of the lease agreement entered into
by the Bank with a certain landlord for renting a certain premises for housing its
CIC/SM/A/2010/000989
Branch. The CPIO had denied the information by claiming exemption under
Section 8(1) (d) and (j) of the Right to Information (RTI) Act by treating the
information as commercially confidential.
4. We do not find the reasons for denial of the information to be in
conformity with the provisions of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The lease
agreement which the bank enters into with a landlord cannot be classified as
commercially confidential information. In fact, all such transactions by which a
public authority procures any material or property, permanently or temporarily,
should be open for public scrutiny to ensure transparency in such dealings.
Therefore, it is all the more necessary that such information should be freely
available in the public domain. Therefore, we now direct the CPIO to provide
the photocopy of the lease agreement along with all its enclosures to the
Appellant within 10 working days from the receipt of this order.
5. The appeal is disposed off accordingly.
6. Copies of this order be given free of cost to the parties.
(Satyananda Mishra)
Chief Information Commissioner
CIC/SM/A/2010/000989
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)
Deputy Registrar
CIC/SM/A/2010/000989