ACRs of employees are
confidential documents. Disclosure of ACR details of the persons and the DPC
proceedings should be important for larger public interest.
IN THE HIGH COURT OF
DELHI AT NEW DELHI
W.P.(C) 4735/2011
Union of India
..... Petitioner
versus
D.S. MEENA ..... Respondent
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE V.P.VAISH
JUDGMENT
The present Writ
This Petition was filed assailing an order
dated 28.02.2011 passed by the CIC in appeal No. CIC/AD/A/2009/001513. Through
the said order CIC has directed the petitioner (GOI) to show the Annual
Confidential Reports (ACRs) of third party to the respondent.
The Background
The respondent (D.S. Meena) through a request Dated 01.02.2009, requested
the petitioner for the following information:
(a) Supply of certified copies of ACRs
of three persons- (Shri N. Jayaram, O.P.Kala, Vijaykumar)- IRTS officers, for
the previous 5 years which were taken into consideration during promotion of
SAG and his ACRs of the same period.
(b) Copy of approved panel in which
these three officers were placed.
The petitioner rejected the request stated that the
disclosure does not serve any public interest or public activity and is,
therefore, exempted under Section 8(1)
(j) of the Act from public disclosure.
Aggrieved respondent preferred an
appeal before the Appellate Authority, Chief Information Officer (CIC), New
Delhi. The Appellate Authority rejected the appeal on the following grounds:
"It is reiterated that ACRs and
Panel Proceedings are confidential documents and their disclosure does not
serve any public interest or activity. Therefore, exemption is sought from
public disclosure under Section 8(1) (j) of the RTI Act 2005."
The respondent filed a second appeal
before the Central Information Commission. CIC directed the petitioner to
furnish the requisite information to the respondent. Aggrieved by the said order dated 28.02.2011 passed by CIC the
petitioner has preferred the present petition.
The Court, on hearing
both sides observed as follows and held:
The point for consideration before this Court is whether disclosure of ACRs
of the said three persons and approved panels in which the said three persons
were placed falls within the purview of exceptions provided under Section 8 of the RTI
Act?
Section 8(1) (j) of
the Act was enacted to ensure that all information furnished to public
authorities including personal information is not given free access to.
Annual Confidential Reports are
essentially performance appraisal by higher officials which along with other
things constitute the basis for promotions and other service benefits. It is a
settled law that the performance of an employee in an organization is primarily
a matter between the employee and the employer and normally those aspects are
governed by service rules which fall under the expression „personal information‟,
the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or public
interest.
So far as the respondent sought the
information regarding the Departmental Promotion Committee proceedings („DPC‟
for short) and the minutes of such proceedings this Court is further of the
opinion that the same cannot be disclosed except for in public interest.
In the instant case, the information sought by the respondent pertains to Govt. servants. ACRs of these employees are confidential documents. The reasons provided by the respondent are not convincing enough to establish before this court that disclosure of ACR details of the said three persons and the DPC proceedings is important for larger public interest. … Merely because the respondent wants to avail such information, does not form a substantial reason so as to why this Court should allow disclosure of such information.
This court is not in
agreement with the observations of the learned CIC for the reasons aforesaid. The application is
dismissed as infructuous.”
(VED PRAKASH VAISH)
JUDGE APRIL 30th, 2015
*
( Not to be taken as copy of the Judgment. Extracted. Emphasis supplied.)
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