PART A | DECISION OF HIGH COURT
Disclosure of an interest in the information sought would be necessary to establish the bona fides of the applicant
|
Case name:
|
Har Kishan vs. President Secretariat through its
Secretary and Anr.
|
|
Citation:
|
Writ Petition (Civil) No.: 7976/2020
|
|
Court:
|
The High Court of Delhi
|
|
Bench:
|
Justice Prathiba M. Singh
|
|
Decided on:
|
12th January, 2021
|
|
Relevant Act / Sections:
|
Section 8(1)(j) of Right to Information Act, 2005
|
Brief Facts and Procedural History:
The petitioner sought information on 6th August, 2018 under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (‘RTI Act’), in respect of certain appointments made for Multi-Tasking Staff at the Presidential Estate, Rashtrapati Bhawan.
In reply, the Public Information Officer gave partial information and did not provide information relating to Item Nos. 4, 5 and 6 – the total number of candidates as per every centre separately who appeared for the given examination; complete name and address of the examination centres of all the candidates who had been selected for appointment to the post of Multi-Tasking Staff, Notification Circular No. A35011/7/16-Admn.; and complete residential address and the father’s name of all selected candidates who had been appointed to the post.
Being aggrieved, the RTI applicant preferred an appeal before the First Appellate Authority, the response to which is not on record. Thereafter, a second appeal was preferred by the petitioner before the CIC, which was disposed of by the CIC vide the impugned decision dated 17th July, 2020, where the CIC had directed the respondent to provide the information under Item Nos. 4 and 5 of his application and rejected information under Item No. 6. The present writ petition is filed against the above CIC order.
On a query from the petitioner it is revealed that the petitioner’s daughter had also applied for appointment as Multi-Tasking Staff in the Presidential Estate, Rashtrapati Bhawan. However, this fact does not find any mention in the present writ petition.
Issues before the Court
Whether information sought under Item No. 6 is protected u/s 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act?
Whether disclosure of an interest in the information sought would be necessary to establish the bona fides of the applicant under the RTI Act?
Ratio Decidendi
Whenever information is sought under the RTI Act, disclosure of an interest in the information sought would be necessary to establish the bona fides of the applicant. Non-disclosure of the same could result in injustice to several other affected persons whose information is sought.
The information sought in respect of the names of the fathers and residential addresses of the candidates is completely invasive and would be a roving and fishing inquiry. The said information which is sought is clearly protected u/s 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act which provides that any such information shall not be provided which constitutes personal information and is invasive of the privacy of individuals.
Decision
The Court did not find any merit in the present writ petition which challenges the rejection of information sought under Item No. 6.
For the act of the petitioner having concealed the material facts, including that his daughter had applied for appointment to the post of Multi-Tasking Staff, the petition was dismissed with costs of Rs. 25,000 to be paid to the ‘High Court of Delhi (Middle Income Group) Legal Aid Society’. The said costs shall be paid within two weeks.
PART B | RIGHT TO INFORMATION
How to file RTI onlineBy now many of us are aware that an RTI application can be filed online without the hassle of printing, posting or even hand-delivering it. But only few of us use this tool effectively. As discussed in our earlier articles, RTI can assist in seeking information which would be necessary in our professional lives, for example, information from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
File your online application on: https://rtionline.gov.in
Steps for filing RTI online
1. For submitting an RTI application, click on ‘submit request’ option on the RTI online website. On clicking the ‘submit request’ option, the ‘Guidelines for use of RTI online portal’ screen will be displayed. This screen contains various guidelines for using the RTI online portal.
2. On accepting the ‘I have read and understood the above guidelines’ tab and clicking on ‘submit’, the online RTI request form screen will be displayed next for the user. The Ministry or Department for which the applicant wants to file an RTI can be selected from the ‘Select Ministry / Department / Apex body’. Personal details of the applicant need to be filled along with the information requested. After entering the security code and submitting the application, the portal will take you to a payment gateway.
3. The applicant can pay the prescribed fee through the following modes:
(a) Internet banking through SBI;
(b) Using credit / debit card of Master / Visa;
(c) Using RuPay Card.
(Fee for making an application is as prescribed in the RTI Rules, 2012.)
4. No RTI fee is required to be paid by any citizen who is below poverty line as per RTI Rules, 2012. However, the applicant must attach a copy of the certificate issued by the appropriate government in this regard, along with the application.
5. On submission of an application, a unique registration number would be issued which may be referred to by the applicant for any references in future.
6. In case additional fee is required representing the cost for providing information, the CPIO would intimate the applicant through this portal. This intimation can be seen by the applicant through ‘Status Report’ or through his / her e-mail alert.
.
7. Status of the RTI application filed online can be seen by the applicant by clicking at ‘View Status’ and entering the required details.
In case any more information / assistance is required, one can connect with the BCAS RTI Clinic.
PART C | INFORMATION ON AND AROUND
(1) State Information Commission has no power to direct removal of encroachment under RTI ACT: Uttarakhand High Court
The Bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari hearing the plea of one Manju Agarwal who challenged the order dated 8th August, 2016 passed by the State Information Commission directing Nagar Palika Parishad, Kotdwar, to take necessary action with the help of the local administration to remove the encroachment, observed in its order that giving a direction for removal of encroachment is beyond the scope of the State Information Commission’s powers under the Right to Information Act.
1
(2) ‘Beneficiaries of state largesse’: Karnataka High Court holds Bangalore Turf Club and Mysore Race Club as public authorities under the RTI Act
A single Bench of Justice P.B. Bajanthri, while refusing to interfere with the order passed by the Karnataka Information Commission against the companies, said ‘In the present case, state largesse has been extended to the petitioners under lease deeds. Therefore, they are holding lease lands on behalf of the people and are accountable to the people. If this material information is taken into consideration, one has to draw the inference that petitioners do fall under the definition of ‘public authority’ under the Act, 2005.’2
(3) ‘Issue of considerable public importance’: Delhi High Court seeks response from Central government on plea seeking RTI information about Aarogya Setu
A single-judge Bench of Justice Prathiba M. Singh issued notice to the Central Government and RTI authorities seeking their response to the plea (Saurav Das vs. CPIO, NeGD & Ors.) stating that issues raised in respect of supply of information regarding the Aarogya Setu App and its creation are of considerable public importance. The information sought was with respect to the origin of the app, the approval details, communications with private people involved in making / developing the app, internal notes, memos, file notings and minutes of the meetings held while creating the app, among other information.3
1 https://www.livelaw.in/rti/state-information-commission-has-no-power-to-direct-removal-of-encroachment-under-rti-act-uttarakhand-high-court-168102
2 https://www.livelaw.in/news-updates/karnataka-high-court-rti-bangalore-turf-club-mysore-race-club-168489
3 https://www.barandbench.com/news/litigation/delhi-high-court-issues-notice-challenge-cic-order-refusing-information-creation-aarogya-setu
The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do
– Thomas Jefferson
If you want to determine the nature of anything,
entrust it to time: when the sea is stormy, you can see nothing clearly
– Seneca
