CENTRAL INFORMATION COMMISSION
Appeal No.2731/ICPB/2008
F. No. PBA/2008/378
August 21, 2008
In the matter of Right to Information Act, 2005 - Section 19
Appellant: Mrs. K. Kalaiselvi
Public Authority: Syndicate Bank
Mr. H.S. Rao, DGM (P) & CPIO
Mr. B.S. Surendra, GM & Appellate Authority
FACTS
:
By an application dated 10.7.2007, the appellant had raised various
queries in five serials in relation to Vigilance. She has also stated that her
husband was working in a nationalized bank and he has leveled serious
allegations/corruption charges by senior executives of a bank and as such for
further investigation, she needed answer for the queries. By a communication
dated 26.11.2007, the CPIO informed the appellant that she had raised only
queries and as per the RTI Act, only information as available in material form
could be furnished. On appeal, the AA held that hypothetical questions cannot be
answered and accordingly upheld the decision of the CPIO. IN the present
appeal, the appellant has submitted that she had raised similar queries with IOB,
SBI and both these banks have answered the queries while Syndicate Bank has
refused. She has further stated that her husband was instrumental in organizing
OBCs and minorities in Syndicate Bank and that as General Secretary of OBCs
Sangh, he had submitted a letter highlighting corruption at higher level and
sought for investigation. On account of this, he was compulsory retired from
service and later on reinstated after six years. Therefore, if the information is
furnished, she could prove that her husband was illegally sacked for racism and
as such the bank should directed to furnish the information. Comments were
called for. In the comments, it is stated that the husband of the appellant was
compulsory retired after a full fledged departmental enquiry for making
unfounded allegations against senior executive and only after he tendered
unconditional apology and pleaded mercy, he was reinstated on the assurance
that he would not give room for any complaint in future. After getting re-entry on a
mercy petition, he has been using his wife and his mother for making applications
under RTI repeatedly. It is further stated that since she had only raised queries,
the CPIO and the AA had correctly declined to answer the queries as being
hypothetical. It is also stated that since in the appeal, the appellant has used the
words “Her husband was illegally sacked from service for racism”, the bank
reserves the right to take appropriate action against her husband. In the
rejoinder, the appellant has questioned the statement in the rejoinder regarding
threat of action.
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DECISION:
No doubt, information available in a material form alone could be sought
for disclosure. Yet when a question relates to a procedure, then, it cannot be said
that the same is not available in a material form and the CPIO should explain the
procedure. In the present case, the appellant had sought for the procedure to be
followed in case of allegations of corruption. The CPIO should have given
answers to these queries. This may be done within 15 days. I must record my
strong displeasure for the observation in the comments that strong action would
be taken against the husband of the appellant as no such threat could be made
in respect of information sought through an RTI application nor any action taken
in pursuance to such a threat. The AA who has sent the comments should note
this not only in the present case but also in future cases that no penal or
disciplinary action shall be initiated against an information seeker in connection
with his/her RTI application.
Let a copy of this decision be sent to the appellant and CPIO.
Sd/-
(Padma Balasubramanian)
Central Information Commissioner
Authenticated true copy :
(Prem Singh Sagar)
Under Secretary & Assistant Registrar
Address of parties :
1. Mr. H.S. Rao, DGM (P) & CPIO, Syndicate Bank, Industrial Relation
Division, Head Office, Manipal-576104 (Karnataka)
2. Mr. B.S. Surendra, GM & Appellate Authority, Syndicate Bank, Corporate
Office, 1st Floor, 2nd Cross, Gandhi Nagar, Bangalore.
3. Mr. K. Kalaiselvi, W/o R.P. IIango, 19/2, Priyadharshini Nagar, Near RTO,
Nagpur-44001
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