Friends,
The second issue is also related with the same place, i.e., the chamber of the
Chief Information Commission, Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow. There the Public
Information Officer was not there because he was on leave and thus an assigned
official was present. As said earlier, the matter pertained to the file about
my application for study leave and the subsequent grant of extra-ordinary
leave. In the RTI application, I had asked for all the orders, documents, Note
sheets etc related to the above.
When the PIO’s turn for explanation about not having given me the requisite
documents so far came, he started by producing a letter. The contents of the
letter said that when they got the application, they had already asked the
seeker of information, viz. me to appear before the PIO to clarify what exactly
were the documents that I was asking for. The second reading of my original RTI
application made it clear that what I had asked for of was completely
unambiguous. Now of all the surprises he came with another plea. This time he
said that since the matter was sub-judice (the matter of study leave vs
extra-ordinary leave pending in the Central Administrative Tribunal, Lucknow
Bench) hence providing the information might adversely affect the case.
Now this was something new for me. As far as I can understand, the reading of
the RTI Act 2005 does not tell that documents and information related to a
matter that is sub-judice shall not be provided. Section 8(1) (b) does say
about information which has been expressly forbidden to be published by any
court of law or tribunal or the disclosure of which may constitute contempt of
court. But it does not talk about every case which has become a subject matter
of any court. Yet, the PIO-designate did come up with this inprovisation of the
provisions given in the RTI Act.
The CIC has ordered the PIO to provide the required information within a
certain time-period, giving an option of withholding the information only if
there is some just legal ground.
Let us see what comes next in this matter which involves an issue of legal
importance. I also request the friends to throw some light over this legal
tangle.
Amitabh Thakur
IIM Lucknow
# 94155-34526
