Provide action taken report on complaint under RTI; CIC
Summary: Shri Rajesh Kumar Sharma filed two identical RTI applications dated 11.03.2017 with the Oriental Bank of Commerce, seeking information regarding action taken on complaints he had made to the Ministry of Finance and the Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) of the Bank. Dissatisfied with the responses from the CPIO (22.03.2017) and the First Appellate Authority (29.04.2017), he filed second appeals (01.05.2017) before the Central Information Commission (CIC). A hearing was conducted on 28.12.2018. The appellant contended that he was not informed about the action taken against the officials named in his complaints and that information was wrongly denied under Section 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act. The respondents claimed that status reports and related communications had already been provided and that further information such as investigation reports was exempt under Sections 8(1)(d) and 8(1)(j), as it involved third-party confidential information. The Commission, citing the Delhi High Court judgment in Kamal Bhasin v. Radha Krishna Mathur & Ors., W.P.(C) 7218/2016, held that a complainant has the right to know the outcome of their complaint but not the detailed internal deliberations. It also referred to the Supreme Court decision in Girish Ramchandra Deshpande v. CIC (SLP (C) No. 27734/2012), confirming that disciplinary proceedings documents are personal information and exempt from disclosure. Directions: • The CPIO was directed to provide the appellant with specific information regarding what action was taken on his complaints within four weeks from receipt of the order. • However, information such as inquiry reports and internal notings was exempted from disclosure under Section 8(1)(j) due to privacy concerns. Conclusion: The appeal was partially allowed with directions to disclose the action taken but not the confidential inquiry reports.
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