CENTRAL INFORMATION COMMISSION
Club Building, Old JNU Campus,
Opposite Ber Sarai, New Delhi 110 067.
Tel: +91 11 26161796
Decision No. CIC/SG/A/2009/001585/4463Penalty
Appeal No. CIC/SG/A/2009/001585
SHOWCAUSE HEARING:
Appellant : Prof. (Dr.) Sambhav Garg,
R/o Garg house, # 458, Sethni Street,
Devi Bhawan Bazar, Jagadhari-110301,
District Yamuna Nagar, Haryana.
Respondent : Mr. Khushal Singh
Public Information Officer &
Assistant Secretary(Aff. Branch)
Central Board of Secondary Education,
Shiksha Kendra,
2, Community Centre, Preet Vihar,
Delhi-110301.
RTI application filed on : 21/03/2009
PIO replied : 01/05/2009
First Appeal filed on : 04/05/2009
First Appellate Authority order : 08/06/2009
Second Appeal filed on : 29/06/2009
BACKGROUND
:
Sl. Information Sought Reply of the PIO
1. That in the case titled as Jitender Singh Tyagi Vs. Director The information sought by
of Education and Ors., which was rightly decided by the the applicant was not
Coram of Hon'ble Mr. Justice Mukul Mudgal and Mr. readily available being a
Justice Manmohan of Hon'ble High Court of Delhi vide very old case.
LPA No. 1991/2006, decided on October 03, 2008, it was
mentioned in this judgment on the page no.2, para no. 2 that
” On a query from the secretary DAV College Managing
Committee, Secretary, C.B.S.E. by its letter dated 5th
December, 1996 was pleased to inform them that each
public school affiliated to CBSE is treated as a separate
entity”. The Appellant wants the duly attested copy of the
query of DAV College Managing Committee received by
the C.B.S.E. and the letter vide no. DC No.5/PA/96/314,
dated 5/12/96 issued by the Secretary of C.B.S.E. in
response to the same. And if the details were not available
then reasons for the same and the persons responsible for the
same.
2. Name, addresses & phone numbers of the members of Copy of list of School
Page no. 1 of 4
Managing Committee in respect of the following CBSE Managing Committee of
affiliated schools as per the record of the concerned branch the Schools as available in
of CBSE:- the records of the Board is
(i) DAV Cent. Public School, Urban Estate, Jind 126102 enclosed.
Haryana.
(ii) DAV Cent. Public School, Meham Road, Bhiwani
127021 Haryana.
3. The name of all teaching and non- teaching staff members CBSE does not compile
along with their address and phone numbers in r/o the such information on
following CBSE affiliated schools along with the regular basis hence the
information that whether they were sufficient in number as same is not available with
per CBSE rules & regulations: the Board.
(i) DAV Cent. Public School, Urban Estate, Jind 126102
Haryana.
(ii) DAV Cent. Public School, Meham Road, Bhiwani
127021 Haryana.
4. The information supplied earlier to the Appellant mentioned CBSE does not compile
the list of the members of B.N.S.D.A.V Public School by the such information on
CBSE, but the address of Chairman of this school was regular basis hence the
incorrect. The Appellant had sought the correct address of same is not available with
this official. the Board.
5. The steps taken by the CBSE authorities with regard to the The information sought by
complaint filed by the Appellant vide his letter dated 13th the applicant is not clear.
December 2008 bearing Ref. No. as CBSE/ERROR/1 along Hence copy of his letter
with the reasons and name of the guilty CBSE officials who dated 13/12/2008 and reply
are responsible for not ensuring the justice till today. sent by CBSE may be
submitted for providing the
information
6. Appellant had sent a letter dated 19th February through the Revised marking scheme is
Principal of Kali Ram D.A.V. Public School, Safidon- already available on CBSE
126112(Jind), Haryana to the Chairman of CBSE, New website as intimated vide
Delhi along with the copy to Secretary of CBSE & Regional letter dated 19/11/2008
Office of CBSE at Panchkula. The Appellant sought the which may please be
details about the contents of this letter as to which one of referred to.
them had been accepted and which of those had been
rejected along with the reasons for the same.
7. That he had filed a complaint to Chairman, Secretary, Chief The school management
Vigilance Officer, Deputy Secretary (Affiliation), Grievance has been asked to submit
Officer, Regional Officer, Panchkula of CBSE vide his letter comments on the
bearing No. 2009/JAISIYARAMKI/KHANNA/AHC/1- complaint vide letter dated
22/C1-72/4 dated March 21, 2009 along with the necessary 21st March, 2009. Reply
enclosures in a matter where his certificates and amounts waited.
were not paid by the CBSE affiliated schools. He wishes to
know the action taken by each of them on the same
separately & the outcome of the action of these authorities of
CBSE separately.
Reply of PIO:
As above.
Grounds for First Appeal:
Partial and unsatisfactory reply by the PIO
Page no. 2 of 4
Order of the First Appellate Authority:
The FAA stated in his order that “In the light of the case and facts given above it has been observed
that the Appellant has been provided with the information available with the Board and no denial of
information on the part of Public Information Officer has been established. The Appeal is dismissed
with the above observations”.
Grounds for Second Appeal:
PIO did not provide the complete information.
Relevant facts that emerged during hearing 17 August 2009:
“The following were present.
Appellant: Absent
Respondent: Absent
The PIO will give the following information to the Appellant:
Query 1- the information to be provided or a clear statement will be made that the information is not
available.
Query 3- if the names of the teaching and non-teaching staff are submitted by the schools, the lists will
be provided to the Appellant. Also, the numbers of teaching and non-teaching staff will be provided
with a statement whether they as per the approved norms.
Query 4- the address of the Chairman as per records will be provided.
Query 5- the PIO will provide the action taken on the Complaint of 13/12/2008 and any
communications or file notings with respect to this.
Query 6- the PIO will inform the Appellant about the action taken on his letter of 19 February 2008
with any communications or file notings with respect to this.
Query 7- the PIO will inform the Appellant about the action taken on his complaint to the Chairman,
CBSE vide his letter dated 21/03/2009 with any communications or file notings with respect to this.
In the above is no action has been taken regarding Queries 5, 6 and 7 this will be stated.”
Commission’s Decision of 17 August 2009:
“The Appeal is allowed.
The PIO will provide information as per details given above to the Appellant before 5 September
2009.”
Facts leading to Showcause:
The Commission has received a letter form Appellant dated 17/09/2009 alleging that the order of the
Commission has not been complied with. Hence a showcause notice was issued on 01/10/2009 to the
PIO with a direction to provide the information and showcause why penalty should not be levied on
him under Section 20(1) of the RTI Act. The PIO has submitted his written submissions dated 22/23
October 2009 in which the PIO has stated that the order of the Commission has been complied with.
However a perusal of the information sent to the appellant it appeared that no fresh information has
been provided and the incomplete information given ear4leir has been repeated. Therefore was directed
to appear before the Commission on 14/12/2009 at 3.30 pm with the complete information.
Relevant Facts emerging during Hearing on 14/12/2009:
The following were present:
Appellant : Prof. (Dr.) Sambhav Garg;
Respondent: Mr. Khushal Singh, Public Information Officer & Assistant Secretary(Aff. Branch);
The PIO has brought the information and it has been given to the Appellant and the Appellant
is satisfied with it except with regard to query-5. The copy given relates to Safidon School instead of
Jharkhand School which he had sought. The PIO is directed to provide a copy of the information
relating to Jharkhand School to the Appellant before 30 December 2009. The PIO had been directed to
Page no. 3 of 4
supply the complete information by the Commission which had enumerated the information to be
provided in its order of 17 August 2009. The Commission had ordered that the information to be
provided before 05 September 2009 but the PIO again supplied the information which had been
previously given. This appears to be a complete defiance of statutory orders. It has required two more
letters by the Commission and a personal hearing today to get the PIO to give the complete
information to the appellant. The PIO was asked if he has brought any written submission to explain
this dereliction of duty. He has brought no written submissions and he was asked to submit his oral
explanation why he did not comply with the order to give the information to the appellant before 05
September 2009. He states that he found it difficult to understand the information sought. He states that
in future he will ensure that there is no delay in providing the information.
The Commission does not see the PIO’s explanation as showing any reasonable cause for not
complying with the order of the Commission. He should have actually supplied the information
completely in response to the appellant’s RTI application. However, after getting the Commission’s
order directing him to supply the information on specific queries there can be no reason for not giving
the information. The PIO’s claim of lack of understanding is an afterthought since he has brought the
information today and given it to the appellant. The Commission sees this as a fit case for levy of
penalty under Section 20(1) for Rs.250/- per days of delay subject to maximum of Rs.25000/-. Since
the delay has been for 100 days from 05/09/2009 till date the Commission levies the maximum penalty
of Rs.25000/- on Mr. Khushal Singh.
Decision:
As per the provisions of Section 20 (1), the Commission finds this a fit case for levying penalty
on Mr. Khushal Singh, Public Information Officer & Assistant Secretary(Aff. Branch). Since the delay
in providing the correct information has been over 100 days, the Commission is passing an order
penalizing Mr. Khushal Singh for Rs. 25000/ which is the maximum penalty under the Act.
The Chairman, of the CBSE to recover the amount of Rs.25000/- from the salary of Mr.
Khushal Singh and remit the same by a demand draft or a Banker’s Cheque in the name of the Pay &
Accounts Officer, CAT, payable at New Delhi and send the same to Shri Pankaj K.P. Shreyaskar, Joint
Registrar and Deputy Secretary of the Central Information Commission, 2nd Floor, August Kranti
Bhawan, New Delhi – 110066. The amount may be deducted at the rate of Rs.5000/ per month every
month from the salary of Mr. Khushal Singh and remitted by the 10th of every month starting from
January 2010. The total amount of Rs.25000 /- will be remitted by 10th of May, 2010.
Shailesh Gandhi
Information Commissioner
14 December 2009
CC:
1- Mr. Vineet Joshi
Chairman, CBSE,
2, Community Centre, Preet Vihar,
Delhi-110301.
2- Shri Pankaj K.P. Shreyaskar,
Joint Registrar and Deputy Secretary
Central Information Commission,
2nd Floor, August Kranti Bhawan,
New Delhi - 110066
(In any correspondence on this decision, mention the complete decision number.)
Page no. 4 of 4