O R D E R

1. The appellant filed an application under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) before the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) Parliament of India, New Delhi. The appellant seeking information is as under:-

1. Kindly provide certified copies of the documents that were relied upon by the committee to finalize the referenced report regarding AIIMS Bhopal (chapter 2)

a. Oral evidences tendered and written submissions of Director of AIIMS Bhopal - from point S(iii) on page 11 of the report.

b. Replies to the questionnaires received from AllMS Bhopal - from point 5(v) on page 11of the report (sic).”

2. As the CPIO had not provided the requested information, the appellant filed the first appeal dated 15.05.2019 requesting that the information should be provided to him. The first appellate authority upheld the CPIO’s reply vide FAO dated 11.06.2019 and disposed of his first appeal. He has filed a second appeal u/Section 19(3) of the RTI Act before the Commission on the ground that information has not been provided to him and requested the Commission to direct the respondent to provide complete and correct information.

Hearing:

3. The appellant attended the hearing through audio-call. The respondent, Shri Vinay Shankar Singh, CPIO attended the hearing through audio-call.

4. The appellant submitted his written submissions dated 02.08.2021 and the same has been taken on record. The respondent submitted their written submissions and the same has been taken on record.

5. The appellant submitted that the desired information has not been provided to him by the respondent on his RTI application dated 08.02.2019.

6. The respondent submitted that vide their letter dated 28.02.2019, they have denied the information to the appellant under Section 8(1)(c) of the RTI Act. He further submitted that it has been informed to the appellant that the concerned section of the Secretariat i.e., Committee Section (H & FW) vide note dated 26.02.2019 denied the information under Rule 8 of the Rules of Procedure (Internal Working) of the Department related Parliamentary Standing Committee (Rajya Sabha) which states that “the material circulated to the Committee/Sub-Committee shall be treated as confidential and the contents thereof shall not be divulged to anyone nor shall anyone make reference to such information outside the Committee/Sub-committee at any time before the report on the subject has been presented to the Council. Thereafter, reference may be made only to such information as is available in the documents or records laid on the Table.” He also submitted that since the information sought was not laid on the Table of the House, the same could not be made available in terms of Section 8 (1) (c) of the RTI Act. The appellant interjected to submit that the information sought was laid on the Table of the House. In response, the respondent replied that only reports have been laid on the table of the house; however the oral evidence has not been laid on the Table of the House. On being asked by the Commission as to when the evidence is used to laid on Table of the House, the respondent replied the same is done only when the Chairmen permits.

Decision:

7. The Commission, after hearing the submissions of both the parties and after perusal of records, observes that the appellant has sought certified copies of the documents i.e. oral evidences tendered and written submissions of Director of AIIMS Bhopal & Replies to the questionnaires received from AllMS Bhopal. The CPIO has denied the information sought under section 8 (1)

(c) of the RTI Act as the information sought was not laid on the Table of the House. The CPIO has further informed the Commission that only reports have been laid on the Table of the House; however the oral evidence as sought by the appellant has not been laid on the Table of the House.

8. In the light of the above observations, the Commission is of the view that the information which was not laid on the Table of the House can