Of High Tables And Floors
Chandranshu Mehta is the only printed tee shirt-clad guy in the Commission Corridors.
Allowing an appeal filed against the Government of National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi (GNCTD), a bench led by Information Commissioner (IC) Heeralal Samariya has set aside an order passed in 2020 by the Administrative Reforms Department (ARD) for denying records related to appointment of Subhash Chandra Agrawal.
Mehta had filed RTI application seeking the information, but was refused on the ground that sought information exempted under Section 8 (1) (j) of the Act that allows the Government to withhold information disclosure of which would, cause unwarranted invasion of privacy of the individual or relates to personal information citing verdict dated 13.11.2019 by the Constitution Bench of Supreme Court of India in Civil Appeal Nos. 2683, 10044 & 10045 of 2010 in the matter of Central Public Information Officer, Supreme Court of India v. Subhash Chandra Agrawal.
Testifying before the Commission, the Government said it held the files related to appointment of Mr Agrawal but would not disclose as it qualify as a third party information, further citing the Apex Court judgment dated 03.10.2012 in the case of Girish Ramchandra Deshpande v. Central Information Commissioner & Ors.
Contesting the Government’s argument to withhold the files before the Commission, Mehta cited Section 10 of the Act that allows access to that part of the record which does not contain any information which is exempt from disclosure under the Act and which can reasonably be severed from any part that contains exempt information.
Samariya agreed with RTI applicant Chandranshu Mehta that ‘blanket denial’ of the information sought for ‘under the garb’ of Section 8 (1) (j) of the RTI Act, 2005 was incorrect on the part of the Public Information Officer (PIO). Further, even if contention of PIO classifying the relevant information under Section 8 (1) (j) is conceded with, then Commission ‘concedes with the argument of the appellant’ raised in his written submission regarding invocation of the Severability Clause under Section 10 of the RTI Act, 2005.
“Further, the nature of information sought in the instant RTI Application doesn’t qualify as a third party information in toto as it pertained to the appointment of the Consultant in the Respondent Authority which qualifies as a public record.”, the Information Commissioner (IC) said.
Who is Subhash Chandra Agrawal?
In 2014, the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Najeeb Jung had appointed Subhash Chandra Agrawal as Consultant to the Delhi Government. Mr Agrawal, the RTI Crusader is an Indian Businessman and a well known RTI Activist of the Country. He holds the Guinness World Record for having written the most published letters to the newspapers editors which were published in them. He has utilized the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 as a tool to combat corruption in India. The Central Information Commission (CIC) brought the office of Chief Justice of India (CJI) under the purview of the RTI Act after Agrawal’s application. This decision was subsequently upheld by the High Court of Delhi in 2010 and the Supreme Court of India in 2019.
Who is Chandranshu Mehta?
Rated-R RTI Activist, whose real name is Chandranshu Mehta is the only printed tee shirt-clad guy in the Commission Corridors, he’s seen as the “only one” who can always manage making “holes in the public authority”.
Here is the Link to the Decision Passed by Heeralal Samariya as Information Commissioner (IC).
