CIC orders oil ministry to provide RTI applicant info on minister's accommodation

Business Standard‎‎: New Delhi: Saturday, April 09, 2016.

The Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed the petroleum ministry to provide information on oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan's residential and official accommodation to a Right to Information (RTI) applicant.

Pronouncing its order passed on 4 April on the application by S C Agrawal, the CIC has asked the ministry to furnish details of the type of government accommodation available to Pradhan and the expenses made on renovation along with a statement on whether these expenses exceeded permissible limit.

The transparency watchdog also asked to provide information on whether the oil ministry has spent funds on renovation of the residence and the office of Pradhan, stating whether the ministry is entitled to spend funds in addition to the money spent by Central Public Works Department (CPWD).

"We direct the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) to provide to the appellant the information free of charge within thirty days of the receipt of this order, under intimation to the commission," Information Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal said in his order.

The CIC also asked the ministry to transfer to Cabinet Secretariat and the urban development ministry the appellant's request for information on the rules governing the type of accommodation available to the Ministers of State (MoS) and the expenses incurred by CPWD, the concerned ministry and the PSUs under the concerned ministry on renovation. The ministry has been directed to provide information, if any, on the funds spent by the oil PSUs and the CPWD on renovation of the minister's accommodation.

Agrawal had in July 2015 filed an RTI query with the CPIO of the oil ministry seeking these details. The CPIO replied next month saying the information sought was not available in the ministry and its compilation from various filed would "disproportionately divert the resources of the public authority". Not satisfied with the response, Agrawal filed an appeal with the First Appellate Authority (FAA).

The FAA stated the information on the ministers' accommodation was not available in the ministry and there was no specific heads of expenditure for such expenses. The FAA also stated that no information was available in the ministry relating to expenses incurred by CPWD or PSUs. Agrawal then filed an appeal before the CIC in October 2015.