Order on Board

09/12/2024

1. By the present writ petition, the petitioner is questioning the order dated 17/05/2016 (Annexure P/1) passed by the State Information Commission by which the State Information Commission has issued direction to respondent No.3/Director Industries to disclose some information to respondent No.1.

2. (i) The brief fact of the case is that the petitioner is a limited company incorporated under the provisions of Companies Act, engaged in the production of cement. The respondent No.1 on various occasions, agitated against the petitioner/Company for one or another reason. The respondent No.1 moved an application under Section 6(1) of the Right to Information Act, 2005 (for short “the Act 2005”) before the Public Information Officer, Directorate of Industries. The Public Information Officer wrote a letter to the petitioner asking the petitioner that whether the information sought can be disclosed to the respondent No.1. The petitioner stated categorically to the Public Information Officer that no information shall be furnished to respondent No.1 as the information relates to commercial confidence and trade secrets of the petitioner. Subsequently, the Public Information Officer refused to provide the information sought by respondent No.1.

(ii) Being aggrieved by the said refusal, the respondent No.1 preferred an appeal before the respondent No.2/Chhattisgarh State Information Commission for the direction that the required information shall be furnished to him. The respondent No.2 passed the impugned order dated 17/05/2016 by directing the respondent No.3 to furnish the information to the respondent No.1 which is challenged by the petitioner in the present writ petition.

Thus, this petition.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the respondent No.1 is in habit of misusing the provision of the Act 2005 as one of his weapon to blackmail and extort. Earlier the respondent No.1 committed criminal act against the petitioner for which the petitioner company preferred different complaint cases against the respondent No.1 in both the cases, cognizance has been taken by the Court of learned Judicial Magistrate First Class, Durg and in the present case also the respondent No.1 with an intention to create pressure upon the petitioner and to extort money from the petitioner/company the application under Section 6 of the Act 2005 has been moved by the respondent No.1 before the Public Information Officer. The information sought by the respondent No.1 from the Directorate of Industries which has bearing the business interest of the petitioner. The Public Information Officer on the application submitted by respondent No.1, sought opinion from the petitioner company whether the information sought by the respondent No.1 can be provided to him or not, in response to the same, the petitioner replied to the Public Information Officer that the information sought by the respondent No.1 should not be furnished to him as it relates to commercial confidence and trade secrets of the company. The Public Information Officer vide its order dated 28/07/2014 (Annexure P/6), intimated the respondent No.1 that it is not possible to disclose the information sought by the respondent No.1 about the petitioner company.

4. The respondent No.1/ being aggrieved by the rejection of his application preferred an appeal under Section 19 of the Act 2005 before the respondent No.2. The respondent No.2 vide order dated 17/05/2016 issued direction to the respondent No.3/ Directorate Industries to provide the information sought by the respondent No.1 which are mentioned below:-

“1. IEM for setting up of the subject cement plant

2. MOU dated 28-07-2010 with Govt of Chhattisgarh for setting up of 1.50 MTPA capacity cement plant at Durg

3. Project Report

4. Common Application form

5. Copy of recent notification No F20-31/2013/11/(6) dated 23 April 2013 wherein Commissioner Directorate Industries Chhattisgarh have been appointed as nodal agency.”

5. The Sta