Mr. S.C. Verma, Assistant Director (TRG), PTC Saharanpur, Saharanpur has requested for charge sheet issued to one Mr. Bhawani Prasad Sharma , SSPOs Chamba along with punishment order awarded to the officer related to DASUYA (HO) Punjab fraud case. The CPIO replied on 3.2.09 denying the information under Section 8(1)(j of the RTI Act, as personal information. Not satisfied with this reply, the Applicant filed his first appeal against the order of the CPIO stating that punishment awarded to a public servant in a fraud case is a public document and reiterating his request for the information. The Appellate Authority in his Order dated 13.3.09 decided that the memo containing punishment orders of a Government servant is a personal document of the concerned official which is kept in confidential records of the official.
The Commission directed the CIO to disclose the information as in the instant case, the enquiry has been completed and the punishment has been awarded and also since the Public Authority has not made out any case for withholding the information under any of the exemptions under Clause 8(1.). The Commission considered opinion that information sought relates to the activities undertaken by an individual while discharging his functions in his official capacity and that the Public Authority needs to disclose such information as it is accountable to the Public.
Decision No CIC/AD/A/2009/001121 Dated: 30 September 2009
