Times of India: Mumbai: Monday, June 10, 2013.
You can now
request for a copy of a government employee's service book under the Right to
Information (RTI) Act to examine his or her track record in discharging duties
in the public service. In a first, Central Information Commissioner Annapurna
Dixit last month directed the railways to supply a copy of the service book of
a ticket examiner (TE) to RTI activist Chetan Kothari, saying it was
information that needed to be placed in the public domain.
Kothari had
filed an RTI application in March with the central public information officer
at the office of the divisional railway manager, Western Railway, seeking
information on the action taken against TE Allan D'Costa on a complaint made by
his friend earlier. Kothari also sought D'Costa's service book and confidential
report.
Kothari had
approached the CIC after his appeal was rejected a second time. Kothari told
the CIC that since D'Costa was a public servant, the information officer's
refusal to make available his service book and confidential report was against
the provisions of the RTI Act. He said provisions in section 8 (1) (J), quoted
by railway officials for not providing the service book, were not applicable in
the case as the TE was in the public service.
The CIC held
that a public authority was obligated under section 4(1) (b) of the RTI Act to
disclose information related to the service of its employees and directed the
railways to make available the TE's service book to Kothari.
During the
hearing, D'Costa objected to sharing his service book, saying the disclosure of
service details would endanger the safety of him as well as his family members.
The CIC said she was not convinced by D'Costa's argument as this information
was anyway expected to be placed in the public domain. "The information
should reach the appellant within four weeks of receipt of this order,"
Dixit ordered. But Dixit said the railways need not disclose the TE's
confidential report and personal information as section 8 (1) (J) of the RTI
Act exempted such information from being made public.
Kothari had
sought the service book of the TE in a case where the latter, while on duty at
the Bombay Central station, had asked Kothari's friend Avinash Mody to pay a
fine of Rs 5,320 for not carrying the proof of identity along with his ticket
after he had alighted from the Shatabdi Express. Mody had filed a complaint
with the railways, demanding action against the TE and seeking clarification on
whether TEs at stations can ask for proof of identity after those in the train
itself have already checked and cleared it. He also wanted the railways to
return the fine he had paid.
According to
Mody, he could not furnish the proof of identity to the D'Costa as he and a
friend were travelling together, and the friend, whose name was first on the
ticket and carried the proof of identity, had alighted from the train at
Borivali station. Modi said it was not possible for him to call the friend to
Bombay Central to show the proof of identity again to the D'Costa, as the
friend had a flight to catch at the airport. Mody pointed out that the TE in
the train had already checked and cleared the proof of identity provided by his
friend.
Meanwhile,
state information commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad told TOI that a Supreme Court
judgment in a similar case had suggested that the record in a service book was
a matter between the employee and the employer and was not a matter of public
interest.
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