Central Information CommissionNitesh Kumar Sharma vs North Western Railway on 5 October, 2021CIC/NWRLY/A/2019/655145\n\n                                  के ीय सूचना आयोग\n                        Central Information Commission\n                             बाबा गंगनाथ माग,मुिनरका\n                         Baba Gangnath Marg, Munirka\n                           नई िद    ी, New Delhi - 110067\n\nि तीय अपील सं       ा/ Second Appeal No. CIC/NWRLY/A/2019/655145\nIn the matter of:\nNitesh Kumar Sharma                                           ... अपीलकता/Appellant\n                                      VERSUS\n                                       बनाम\n\nCPIO,                                                       ... ितवादीगण /Respondent\nSr. Divisional Finance Manager,\nNorth Western Railway,\nO/o the Divisional Railway Manager,\nDivisional Office, Jaipur Division,\nJaipur,Rajasthan-302006\nRelevant dates emerging from the appeal:\n\nRTI Application filed on                  :   04.06.2019\nCPIO replied on                           :   25.06.2019\nFirst Appeal filed on                     :   04.07.2019\nFirst Appellate Authority order           :   09.10.2019\nSecond Appeal received on                 :   26.10.2019\nDate of Hearing                           :   05.10.2021\n\nThe following were present:\n\nAppellant: Shri Nitesh Kumar Sharma participated in the hearing through video\nconferencing from NIC Alwar.\n\nRespondent: Shri Vishnu Bajaj, CPIO and Sr. DFM and Shri Amritlal, APO and\nNodal Officer participated in the hearing through video conferencing from NIC\nJaipur.\n\n\n                                                                           Page 1 of 5\n                                                   CIC/NWRLY/A/2019/655145\n\n                                   ORDERInformation sought:The Appellant filed an RTI Application dated 04.06.2019 seeking information on\nthe following two points:1) " ाथ िनतेश कुमार शमा s /o ी िव\n                                        ु द शमा व. स. लो. पायलेट मु ० - रे वाड़ी\n           के खलाफ ाथ की प ी ीमती अंशु शमा व उसके प रवार वालो ने मंडल\n           कायालय म ा िशकायत दी है तथा उस पर ा कायवाही ई है \ िशकायत की\n             ित उपल करावे |2) ाथ िनतेश कुमार शमा के खलाफ सौपी गई जां च रपोट की ित या सूचना\n           उपल करावे |"The PIO & Sr. DFM, North Western Railway, Jaipur Division, Jaipur vide letter\ndated 25.06.2019, enclosed a letter/note endorsed by the Sr. Divisional Personnel\nOfficer, Jaipur dated 21.06.2019, wherein the information was denied to the\nAppellant under the pretext of personal information of third party. Being\ndissatisfied, the Appellant filed a First Appeal dated 04.07.2019. The First\nAppellate Authority vide order dated 09.10.2019, upheld the CPIO's reply.Grounds for Second Appeal:The Appellant filed a Second Appeal u/s 19 of the Act on the ground of\nunsatisfactory reply furnished by the Respondent. Appellant requested the\nCommission to direct the CPIO to provide complete information sought for.Submissions made by Appellant and Respondent during Hearing:The Appellant stated that he is not satisfied with the reply provided by the\nRespondent. Upon queried by the Commission as to whether the Appellant has\nentangled in any lis, the Appellant while replying in affirmative explained thatPage 2 of 5CIC/NWRLY/A/2019/655145\n\nSmt. Anshu Sharma has filed false and frivolous complaints against him including\na marital dispute case.The Respondent submitted that as per the provisions of theRTI Act, the\ninformation sought by the Appellant in the instant RTI Application pertains to third\nparty and the same has been informed to the Appellant.Decision:Upon perusal of the facts on record as well as on the basis of the proceedings\nduring the hearing, the Commission observes that the information sought by the\nAppellant pertains to personal information of a third party which is exempted from\ndisclosure underSection 8(1)(j)of the RTI Act. The Commission finds it pertinent\nto rely upon the recent judgment of the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi vide W.P.(C)\n2211/2021 & CM APPL.16337/2021 in the matter ofAmit Meharia versus\nCommissioner of Police & Ors.decided on 17.08.2021, wherein the Hon'ble\nHigh Court has categorically held as under:"16. A perusal of all these FIRs and complaints therein would show that\n      allegations have been made by the Respondent No. 4 against both her ex-husbands\n      as also the in-laws etc. Thus, the privacy which is to be considered in this case is\n      not just the privacy of Respondent No.4 alone, but in fact, that of the said\n      husbands against whom complaints were filed as well as the in-laws etc. The\n      personal information in this case does not relate only to the Petitioner or\n      Respondent No.4 but also to those other persons who were the subject matter of\n      the said complaints and FIR. Thus, the exception underSection 8(1)(j)of the RTI\n      Act, 2005 would clearly apply in the present case.......19.    The Supreme Court has clearly observed in Registrar, Supreme Court v.\n      R.S. Misra [2017 SCC OnLine Del 11811] that the provisions of theRTI Actare\n      for achieving transparency and not for making available information to be used in\n      other proceedings, especially if there are other remedies available to the persons\n      who seek the information, under another statute. The relevant extract reads as\n      under:Page 3 of 5CIC/NWRLY/A/2019/655145\n\n             "xxx xxx      xxx53. The preamble shows that theRTI Acthas been enacted only to make\n             accessible to the citizen the information with the public authorities which\n             hitherto was not available. Neither the Preamble of the RTI Act nor does\n             any other provision of the Act disclose the purport of theRTI Actto provide\n             additional mode for accessing information with the public authorities\n             which has already formulated rules and schemes for making the said\n             information available. Certainly if the said rules, regulations and schemes\n             do not provide for accessing information which has been made accessible\n             under theRTI Act, resort can be had to the provision of theRTI Actbut not\n             to duplicate or to multiply the modes of accessing information.54. This Court is further of the opinion that if any information can be\n             accessed through the mechanism provided under another statute, then the\n             provisions of theRTI Actcannot be resorted to as there is absence of the\n             very basis for invoking the provisions ofRTI Act, namely, lack of\n             transparency. In other words, the provisions ofRTI Actare not to be\n             resorted to if the same are not actuated to achieve transparency."Keeping in view of the aforesaid ratio, the Commission deems it expedient that the\ninformation sought in the instant RTI Application is exempt from disclosure underSection 8(1)(j)of the RTI Act. Hence, the Commission finds no further scope of\nintervention in the instant matter.With the above observations, the instant Second Appeal is disposed of.\nCopy of the decision be provided free of cost to the parties.The Appeal, hereby, stands disposed of.Amita Pandove(अिमता पांडव)\n                                        Information Commissioner(सूचना आयु                )\n                                         िदनांक / Date: 05.10.2021Page 4 of 5CIC/NWRLY/A/2019/655145\n\nAuthenticated true copy\n(अिभ मािणत स ािपत ित)\n\nB. S. Kasana (बी. एस. कसाना)\nDy. Registrar (उप-पंजीयक)\n011-26105027\n\n\nAddresses of the parties:\n1. The First Appellate Authority (FAA)\nADRM, North Western Railway\nO/O The Divisional Railway\nManager, Divisional Office,\nJaipur Division, Jaipur,\nRajasthan-302006\n\n2. The Central Public Information Officer\nSr. Divisional Finance Manager,\nNorth Western Railway,\nO/O The Divisional Railway Manager,\nDivisional Office, Jaipur Division,\nJaipur, Rajasthan-302006\n\n3. Shri Nitesh Kumar SharmaPage 5 of 5