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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY BENCH AT AURANGABAD
ABASAHEB D.SHINDE
Narsing Ganpatrao Ankushkar – Appellant
Versus
Balaji Pandharinath Thorat – Respondent
How to challenge the Commissioner, State Information Commission, order directing disclosure under RTI? What is the effect of Section 11 of the RTI Act on third-party information and mandatory notice/hearing? What is the court’s ruling regarding the applicability of Section 8(1)(j) personal information exemption to service records?
Key Points: - The petition challenges the impugned RTI order directing disclosure of petitioner’s service record (!) . - The court holds that third-party information requires compliance with Section 11, including notice and hearing, before disclosure (!) (!) (!) (!) . - The court finds that personal information of the petitioner qualifies for exemption under Section 8(1)(j) and that disclosure requires larger public interest demonstration; the Second Appellate Authority failed to provide proper notice/hearing and misapplied Section 8(1)(j) (!) (!) (!) . - The writ petition is allowed, and the impugned order is quashed and set aside; rule is made absolute (!) (!) (!) . - The decision references and cites the Subhash Chandra Agarwal and Girish Ramchandra Deshpande lines on personal information exemptions and necessity of larger public interest (!) (!) . - The court emphasizes mandatory compliance with Section 11 for third-party information in RTI appeals (!) (!) (!) . - The petitioner held that the Second Appellate Authority did not give notice to the affected party as required by Section 11 (!) . - The matter discusses the balance between personal information exemption and larger public interest in disclosure (!) (!) . - The final order sets aside the appellate directions to disclose the petitioner’s service record (!) (!) (!) . - The opinion reaffirms that disclosure of personal information requires satisfaction of public interest criteria and proper procedural safeguards (!) (!) .
ORDER :
ABASAHEB D. SHINDE, J.
Heard.
2. Rule. Rule is made returnable forthwith. With the consent of the parties, heard finally at the admission stage.
3. By this Writ Petition, the petitioner has challenged the impugned order dated 15.01.2015 passed by the Commissioner, State Information Commission, Bench at Aurangabad in Appeal No.2014/RMA/ Appeal/CR/3593 by which the said Appellate Authority has directed the Information Officer to provide the information in respect of service record of the petitioner.
4. Learned counsel for the petitioner would urge that the petitioner initially was appointed as Police Sub-Inspector and at the relevant time, he was working as Deputy Superintendent of Police at Anti-Corruption Bureau, Latur. The respondent No.1 herein who infact has no concern whatsoever to seek the information about service record of the petitioner nor belongs to the caste of the petitioner, applied for seeking information in respect of service record of the petitioner from the Information Officer as per the provisions of Section 11 of ‘The Right to Information Act, 2005 (hereinafter referred in short ‘the RTI Act’)
5. It is further contended that the application filed by the respond
Personal information exempt from RTI disclosure unless larger public interest justifies; third party must receive notice and hearing under Section 11 before any disclosure order.
Section 11 of Right to Information Act, 2005 relates to disclosure of third party information.
The Right to Information Act protects personal information from disclosure unless a larger public interest is established.
Judicial review is an integral part of the constitutional framework, and violations of natural justice in administrative actions are subject to review.
Personal information disclosure under RTI Act requires consent; public interest must balance privacy rights.
Judicial officers' complaints are personal information exempt from RTI disclosure unless public interest justifies it.
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