PIO should assess impact before giving information: GSIC

NT NETWORK
Posted on 2008-09-07
MAPUSA — The Goa State Information Commission, in an order passed recently, has held that the public information officer has to make an assessment about the public interest as well as the harm that could be caused to the third party before deciding whether such information should be provided or not besides complying with the requirements of Section 11(1) of the Act.
Mr Thomas Alvares, an administrative clerk of a Diocesan run college at Mapusa had sought service records of an employee who had already retired from the public information officer of the institute.
The information officer declined the request on the ground that the information pertains to a third party who has objections for furnishing the said information. The applicant, Mr Alvares, then approached the Commission as even the first appellate authority that he later approached upheld the contention of the public information officer.
While holding that the Commission does not find any merit in the rejection of the information withheld to Mr Alvares, it held that the third party information is not included as an exception to disclosure either under Section 8 or 9 of RTI Act and that such a third party information can be refused only when the information officer assesses that the negative impact to the individual is greater than public interest involved in revealing the information.
The Commission accordingly directed the information officer to furnish the relevant information to Mr Alvares within a period of 10 days from passing the order.
In another order passed recently, the Commission had imposed a penalty of Rs 2,000 against a secretary of the village panchayat of Casne Amere Porascadem, Pernem for providing false and misleading information to one Ms Surekha Naik.
The Commission had directed that the said penalty be recovered from the salary of the secretary for the month of August and September while seeking a compliance report in that direction.