RTI Query by GOPAL PRASAD about movable/immovable properties declared by all the officers of Indian Administrative Service and Central Ministers. ..In reply of RTI Query about movable/immovable properties declared by all the officers of Indian Administrative Service ( IAS,IPS, IRS, IFS ), Chief Commissioner of Income Tax (CCA) is concerned with the details of IRS Officers only. The Details of movable /immovable properties as declared by all the IRS Officers is available on the website irsofficersonline.gov.in. Thus the information sought by the applicant is in respect of information which is already available in public domain and the applicant is advised to refer view IPR on the departmental website irsofficeronline.gov.in . The CIC vide decision contained in F. No. CIC/AT/2006/00336 Dated 25.1.2006 has inter alia, held that once the information is in the public Domain , It cannot be said to be held by the given public authority , It is not open to the appealant to ask the public authority to seek details or explain the procedures to him no obligation on PIO to provide such information in the connection of RTI query by Delhi based RTI Activist Gopal Prasad. In this regard PMO said details of movable /immovable properties as declared by all the Central Govt Ministers are available on the website - pmindia.nic.in Director Police and CPIO, Ministry of Home Affairs Prashant Nikam said that the latest available annual property returns of IPS Officers have been posted on the website of this ministry which can be accessed @ mha.nic.in\ IPS Officers Immovable Property Returns Information System\ View Immovable Property Returns filed by the officers. IPS Officers who have not submitted their Immovable property returns have been posted on the website of the ministry which can be accessed @ mha.nic.in\indian police service \ immovable property return \ IPS Officers immovable property returns information system\ list of those officers who are yet to submit their IPR for the year 2012. Action on Tax due of current Central Ministers and Ex Central Ministers;CPIO & Astt. Commissioner of Income Tax, Ratnagiri said the information sought for is a statistical data in respect of certain category of persons with specific criteria. Verification revealed that the specific statistical information sought for is not exit or held by the undersigned. The applicant has not sought for information in respect of any specific person but expected the information in general in respect of all the present or past Ministers of Govt. of India. As the information of such category of persons is not maintained separately supply of information would result in disproportionate diversion of resources of the undersigned. As per a guide on right to information act , 2005 circulated vide O.M. No. 1/4/2009-IR Dated 05/10/2009 of the Govt. of India , DOPT, a citizen has the right to seek such information which is held by the public authority . This right includes inspection of work , documents and records, takings notes, extracts on certified copies, taking certified samples of material held by the public authority or held under his control . The relevant clarifications from the guide are reproduced below. “10. A citizen has a right to seek such information from a public authority which is held by the public authority or which is held by the public authority or which is held under its control. This right includes inspection of work , documents and records , taking notes, extracts or certified copies of documents or records and taking certified samples of material held by the public authority or held under the control of the public authority. It is important to note that only such information can be supplied under the act which already exists and is held by the public authority or held under the control of the public authority. The public information officer is not supposed to create information or to interpret information or to solve the problems raised by the applicants or to furnish replies to hypothetical questions. 14. In some cases, the applicants expect the public information officer to give information in some particular proforma devised by them on the plea that they have a right to get information in the form in which it is sought. It need be noted that the provision in the act simply means that if the information is sought in the form of photocopy , it shall be provided in the form of photocopy , or if it is sought in the form of a floppy, it shall be provided in that form subject to the conditions given in the act. It does not mean that the PIO shall re-shape the information. This is substantiated by the definition of the term “ right to information as given in the act , according to which , it includes right to obtaining information in the form of diskettes, floppies, tapes, video cassettes or in any other electronic mode or through print outs provided such information is already stored in a computer or in any other device. Everywhere in the Act , the word “form” has been used to represent this meaning . 15. Some information seekers request the public information officers to cull out information from some documents and give such extracted information to them. A citizen has a right to get “material “ from a public authority which is held by or under the control of that public authority .The Act , however , does not require the Public Information Officer to deduce some conclusion from the “material” and supply the “conclusion” so deduced to the applicant . it means that the public information officer is required to supply the “material” in the form as held by the public authority , but not to do research on behalf of the citizen to deduce anything from the material and then supply it to him. Right to Information Vis-a Vis other Acts.’’ The issue has been elaborated by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the matter of CBSE & Anr. Vs Aditya Bandhopadhyay and Ors.(Civil Appeal No. 6454 of 2011) as follow: “At this juncture, it is necessary to clear some misconceptions about the RTI Act. The RTI Act provides access to all information that is available and existing. This is clear from a combined reading of section 3 and the definitions of “Information” and “Right to Information” under clauses (f) and (j) of section 2 of the Act. If a public authority has any information in the form of data or analysed data or abstracts, or stastics, an applicant may access such information, subject to the exemptions in section 8 of the act. But where the information sought is not a part of the record of exemptions in section 8 of the act. But where such information is not required to be maintained under any law or the rules or regulations of the public authority , the act does not cast an obligation upon the public authority, to collect or conation such non available information and then furnish it to an applicant , A public Authority is also not required to furnish information which require drawing of inferences and / or making of assumptions. It is also not required to provide “advice” or “opinion” to an applicant, nor required to obtain and furnish any “opinion ‘’ or advice to an applicant. The reference to “opinion” or “advice “ in the definition of information in section 2(f) of the act , only refers to such material available in the records of the public authority. Many Public Authorities have, as a public relation exercise, provide advice , guidance and opinion to the citizens. But that is purely voluntary and should not be confused with any obligation under the RTI Act.” In reply of this RTI, Income Tax Officer said that you have not quoted the PAN in respect of assessee whose data /information is required by you. Income tax department maintains PAN based record only and unable to provide the information .in this connection to relevant portion of the guidelines issued by the Department of Personnel &Training vide F.No.1/2/2008-IR Dated 12/06/2008 which reads as under: It may be noted that the act requires the supply of such information only which already exists and is held by the public authority or held under the control of the public authority . it is beyond the scope of the act for a public authority to create information .Collection of information , parts of which are available with different public authorities would amount to creation of information which a public authority under the act is not require to do. At the same time, since the information is not related to any one particular public authority it is not the case where application should be transferred under sub section 3 of section 6 of the act. it is pertinent to note that sub section 3 refers to another public authority and not other public authorities , use the singular form in the act in this regard is important to note., Office of the deputy commissioner of income tax, Raipur Shital Shashwat Verma gave reference to decision of Honble Supreme court in the case Girish Ramchandra Deshpande income tax returns and related documents have been held to be personal information and exempt from disclosure u/s 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act. while office of the chief commissioner of income tax , Jaipur feel that view of the nature of personal information , the disclosure of which would result in unwarranted invasion of privacy, involvement of third parties and disclosure of such information serves no large public interest and being rejected in light of applicability of section 8(1)(g) and 8(1)(j)of RTI Act 2005. Joint commissioner of income tax range -31, New Delhi K V K Singh said The query sought is sweeping in nature and collecting , collating this information for different types of assessees such as ministers of govt. of India & civil services officials viz. IAS,IPS, IFS, IRS, IIS all over the country would be time consuming and expensive . if the appellant ask for any specific information , the CPIO will furnish the same as the CPIO is responsible for providing information available in the office only and is not expected to collect and compile the information on the demands of the information seeker. The information as such cannot be provided and the application thus stands rejected. CPIO & DS (Admn-||) Ministry of Communications and IT,Department of Telecommunications D.P.Singh said that as per DoP&T guidelines issued vide their OM No. 1/4/2009-IR Dated 05.10.2009 an applicant should by the way of one application seek information in respect of one subject only .Therefore, it is requested to follow the guidelines in future and submit separate RTI applications for separate subjects. FOR INFORMATION SEEKERS, Method of seeking information : A citizen who desires to obtain any information under the act , should make an application to the public information officer of the concerned public authority in writing in English or Hindi or in the official language of the area in which the application is made . The application should be preside and specific. He should make payment of application fee at the time of submitting the application as prescribed in the fee rules. The applicant can send the application by post or through electric means or can deliver it personally in the office of the public authority .The application can also be sent through an assistant public information officer. Application to the concerned public Authority: The applicant should make application to the concerned Public Authority. It is advised that he should make all efforts to ascertain as to which is the Public Authority concerned with the information and should send application to the public information officer of that public authority. It is observed that some applicants seek information in respect of many subjects by way of one application .It creates problem for the public information officer as well as the applicant . The applicant should,therefore see to it that by way of one application , he seeks information in respect of one subject only. Fee for seeking Information: The applicant,along with the application should send application fee to the public information officer . In case of government of India prescribed application fee is Rs.10/- which can be paid through a demand draft or a bankers cheque or an Indian postal order payable to the accounts officer of the public authority. The payment of fee can also be made by way of cash to the accounts officer of the public authority or to the assistant public information officer against proper receipt. The applicant may also be required to pay further fee towards the cost of providing the information,details of which shall be intimated to the applicant by the public information officer. The fee so demanded can be paid the same way as application fee. If the applicant belongs to below poverty line (BPL) category, he is not required to pay any fee. However, he should submit a proof in support of his claim to belong to the below poverty line .The application not accompanied by the prescribed application fee or proof of the applicants belonging to below poverty line, as the case may be,shall not be a valid application under the act . Format of Application: There is no prescribed format of application for seeking information .The application can be made on plain paper. The application should,however, have the name and complete postal address of the applicant . Even in case where the information is sought electronically, the application should contain name and postal address of the applicant. Filing of Appeal: An applicant can file an appeal to the first appellate authority if information is not supplied to him within the prescribed time of thirty days or 48 hours, as the case may be, or is not satisfied with the information furnished to him. Such an appeal,should be filed within a month. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. GOPAL PRASAD (RTI ACTIVIST ) House No. -210, Street No. -3, Pal Mohalla ,Near Mohanbaba Mandir , Mandawali, Delhi-92. Mob: 08743057056, 09910341785 ; Email: sampoornkranti@gmail ..................................................................................
Posted on: Sat, 02 Nov 2013 14:38:36 +0000
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