Whispers Forum

The Appellant sought information regarding certified copy of the complete file of compliance pertaining to complaint filed against an Appraising Officer of Customs, certified copy of factual report on findings of a certain inquiry, certified copies of IPR filed by certain officers and issues related thereto. The FAA denied disclosure of information as per Section 8 (1) (j) of the RTI Act stating that a mere suspicion could not constitute the basis of public interest. It was further stated that consent of the four officers about whom the Appellant had sought details was sought who had objected to the same under Section-11 of the RTI Act, 2005. The CIC upheld the denial of information.
Comments
The passport details, copies of birth certificate and copies of records of educational qualification are personal information, the disclosure of which would cause unwarranted invasion of privacy of individuals unless there was an overbearing public interest in favour of disclosure. Only when the public interest outweighs the need for protection of personal information, the concerned authority is expected to disclose the information.
Citation: Mr. Bandhagit Nadaf v. Central Excise & Customs in Appeal No.:-CIC/SB/A/2016/001225-BJ; Date of Decision: 23.05.2017

DEBATE (1)
Only Gupta and his party need to be blamed firstly for the motivated mess the bureaucracy created to dole out the largesse worth millions and billions of exchequers money through illegal allotment of coal blocks to their favourites and secondly when caught by the long arms of law , a rare of the rarest phenomena in and for IAS lobby as the system created by and for them have no holes for their scrutiny except the intervention of courts as in the instant case, accusing the former Prime Minister who was holding the charge of this Ministry on the pretext of giving/receiving oral directions in a particular manner ultimately leading to the massive scam. Secretary or Joint Secretaries are not so fools that they shall comply with the illegal or corrupt oral instructions of the Minister in a manner of dancing. In fact it is the other way round that the Politician is misguided by a corrupt IAS officer through his articulation on file in such a convincing manner that the no scope is left for the Minister to invoke his wisdom except to append his approval assuming the recommendations as gospel truth. Gupta, sincere if he was had enormous scope , opportunity and authority to preempt any illegal oral orders of the Coal Minister if at all they were whispered by systematically questioning the merits of such efforts on file . Assuming hypothetically that a corrupt politician would want his writ and not the merits, policy and procedure to prevail on file only a corrupt bureaucrat interested in collecting extra booty would fall in line. There are hundreds of instances wherein a bureaucrat defied the wrong instructions of the powerful ministers with humility without caring for the consequences. However a corrupt may initiate or fall in line for ulterior gains would always blame the master for his own misdeeds. The Presiding Officer of this special Court that convicted Gupta is a living example of honesty and integrity that are rated above board. He is known for blindfolding his eyes while determining the guilt on the basis of presentation of facts both by prosecution as well as accused and takes no time in granting acquittal if the justice demands so. The court would never be pleased to send the accused to jail without establishing his guilt through corroborating evidence. The Court, in the instant case has rather been lenient in punishing the convict with two years of jail term as against the maximum of seven that he and his supporters must acknowledge and be gracious to the Court.
O P Sharma
Many officers retired in wait of promotion
Hundreds of the eligible Under Secretaries, who have completed more than the required five years of regular service, are stagnating at the US level, even though the vacancies at DS level are available. Many of those have retired in wait of promotion. So frustrating....
Purnendu Kant
No promotion is being made in CSSS posts as well, i.e. PA, PS, PPS, SrPPS & PSO.
Satish

DEBATE (1)
Lesson to bureaucracy!
A lesson to bureaucracy! Do not toe the line of politicians at the cost of your career.
R C Jain
Wise decision of Government of India
It is very wise decision of Government of India. As we all know infrastructure is the backbone of economic growth of nation and steel is basic input for development of infrastructure. Chaudhry Sahib is working very hard for the growth of steel industry in the country.
Ram Karan
Court ruling over stopping toll charges on DND flyway
It was in November 2016 that the Allahabad High Court ruled for the Noida Bridge Toll Company to stop charging toll on the DND flyway connecting Noida and Delhi. The ruling was a result of some MLAs and small time politicians ‘agitating along with residents' Welfare Associations and going to the court. The judgment was erroneous in so far as the Court ignored some vital aspects such as loss of jobs for nearly 400 people, maintenance of road, taking care of breakdowns, smooth flow of traffic. Simply because the company had recovered its cost of investment was a fallacious argument. The Supreme Court did not give a stay on this order and asked the former much celebrated CAG to scrutinise the accounts of the company. Since then the driving on DND has become a night mare not only because of increase in traffic but also due to South Delhi Municipal Corporation having blocked one lane by putting up its own toll booth for collecting tax from commercial vehicles. The 'Goons'(Yes they look and behave like ones)of the contractor hired by SDMC stop taxis and trucks in a manner that blocks the smooth flow of traffic. A journey which used to take 30 minutes is now covered in nearly an hour or more. No action has been taken in spite of two Newspapers highlighting this past week. What purpose has been served by the High Court verdict in closing the toll plaza? I am sure the daily commuters on the Flyway would not mind shelling out Rs. 50 or so both ways for the sake of smooth run on this road. Will Apex Court kindly take note of this fall out of the court order?
Aarti Khosla

DEBATE (1)
In bureaucracy this is unbelievable. H C Gupta is a modest, straightforward and well behaved officer.
Jaimini Sharma
DEBATE (2)
Politicians equally responsible for this mess
Of course the politicians are equally responsible for this mess. The court verdict in the coal block allotment case against the three officers is, on the face of it, highly unfair. The allotment was done on the recommendation of the inter-ministerial screening committee duly approved by the Coal Minister. If Secretary coal and his juniors failed to scrutinise the application which was incomplete in one aspect as per the guidelines why did the inter-ministerial committee not scrutinise it before recommending the award of contract. The fact of the matter appears to be that in the allotment of coal blocks everyone down the line was simply obeying the orders from the top. Since Prime Minister was the Coal minister at that time one wonders why the court chose not to question PMO officers who handled the files and placed these before the P.M as Coal Minister. Who took the pecuniary advantage of such arbitrary allocations. No such advantage has been taken by the convicted officers as no concrete evidence has been found to this effect. Letting the PMO officers and the politicians go scot free in this case and punishing the three officers appears to be a mockery of justice.
Aarti Khosla
A brilliant officer
He is a brilliant and outstanding officer. Look forward to his dynamism in action.
Satbir Singh

A complaint was filed with the CIC alleging that the information sought was not provided and the complainant’s RTI application was transferred to several CPIOs who did not revert in a positive way. The CIC advised the public authority to desist from these kinds of practices which defeats the very purpose and motive of the RTI Act.
Comments
It is a common practice in the headquarters of many organisations to transfer the RTI applications received at their end to different sub-ordinate offices carelessly. Such a blind redirection of the RTI applications needs to be curbed as the same is not envisaged under the Act.
Citation: Deepak Narayan Singh v. PIO, M/o Labour & Employment in CIC/BS/C/2014/000328, Decided on: 12.04.2017
Weekly article by Dr. (Mrs.) Anuradha Verma (dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in), RTI Consultant to IIM, Indore. Her other articles can be read at https://www.rtifoundationofindia.com/(dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in), RTI Consultant to IIM, Indore and Co-author of the books: RIGHT TO INFORMATION - LAW AND PRACTICE and PIO's Guide to RTI by Taxmann. (The views are Personal)

DEBATE (1)
Are the bureaucrats alone to be blamed for the mess ?
My answer is an emphatic YES. Bureaucrats boast that political bosses have a tenure of only five years while they have a 35 years tenure. Unless they collaborate - for fear of loosing the lucrative post- no public representative could dare to indulge in unfair/illegal activities.
Parth Garg
PM falls into trap of IAS officers
1900 IAS officers have not submitted their IPR. It is only this reason which is delaying implementation of the Lok Ayukta Act. The PM has fallen into trap of IAS officers surrounding him.
BBS
Well written
Very well written Ms Aarthi Khosla. Everyone except the inept opposition wants Modiji to be the PM for the next term also. You are very right the Mamathas, Yechuris etc etc who have spoils the states they run or used to run know that they are nowhere now but to just survive and be in the limelight indulge in all sorts of tamashas as much as possible.
Srinivas

The buzz that gadwalls do not support PM is false and totally incorrect. I belong to Bangalore South a very elite part of Bangalore where the voters have opted strongly for the Honble PM and the BJP and will do so without fail.
Srinivas
Why Paki represented India in the ICJ ?
Enron was a scam of greater proportion than any other till the Coalgate got exposed. It was a case of mass bribing of all concerned. Those who acted against public interest were rewarded with appointment to institutions like the UPSC post retirement. Union Carbide/Anderson, Enron and the 2014 Lok Sabha election time media report of piles of money shown to the American diplomat are evidence of the American influence in running the government of India. How can American media and political class complain of Russia “influencing” American Presidential Election 2016 when they indulge in such acts in India. If the nation is to be told the whole truth about Enron/Dabhol business, nothing short of a Nation Commission of Inquiry will do justice to that loot. It was in that series that a Paki represented India in the ICJ.
M L Gupta
Is the PM aware ?
This is amazing news. 1900 IAS officers have not submitted their Immovable Property Returns? That is almost 45% of Cadre strength ! Is the PM aware of this fact ? All of them must be sent a show cause legal notice now! No promotions , no increase in emoluments , no NFU , no VRS , no pension , and more till the returns are submitted and verified. In the Armed Forces of India this would result in strict disciplinary action .
Devindra Sethi
King can do no wrong !
The 'Kaala Sahibs' are above all laws of the country because king can do no wrong.
Parth

Interesting comment on the irrelevance of IAS, IPS, IRS. Then perhaps, we need ARS Kumar.
S Srinivasan
Judiciary does not applies their own directions !
Well, well I am tempted to comment that judiciary does not apply their own directions not to admit frivolous cases or mandatory evidences before admission of case thus resulting in long pendency. In any matrimonial case more that 12 cases happen between same parities, same cause of action in different courts, why cant it be one, in each case people resort to different contradictory affidavits, why not to exemplary perjury case. This will actually reduce the burden on judiciary and they will have more time on 5-10% genuine cases, same is true in other sections
Jaggu
“Thank PM Modi for leadership”
ICJ's interim judgement is finally out. Republic of India wins on all counts. All Pak's arguments bludgeoned. Global humiliation. Congratulations to PM Modi, Sushma Swaraj, MEA mandarins and, of course, Harish Salve. Such leadership initiatives distinguish the present ruling dispensation from the erstwhile Congress-led UPA govt.
According to Media reports ,Khawar Qureshi, the lawyer who argued for Pakistan against India in Jadhav’s case, was earlier appointed by UPA government in 2004 to argue in a power project case. What prompted the Congress to hire the services of a Pakistani lawyer, one wonders ? Was there a dearth of talented lawyers inIndia ? The blunder calls for investigation.
Let us await Pak's reactions and appropriate responses by India. Pakistan, out of desperation, could attempt escalating its misadventure. It is reportedly going back to the World court with “ solid evidences “, seeking revision of interim orders of ICJ .
A K Saxena (A retd civil servant)