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2026 Supreme(Online)(CIC) 9977
CENTRAL INFORMATION COMMISSION
Ashutosh Chaturvedi, Information Commissioner
Manoj Kumar – Appellant
Versus
CPIO, Employees State Insurance Corporation – Respondent
Second Appeal No. CIC/ESICO/A/2025/647254
Important Points
Subject
Administrative Law - Right to Information
Act Referred
Headnote
(B) Procedural Compliance - Inspection of Records - The CPIO is mandated to procure relevant documents from other branches or departments if the sought information is held elsewhere within the organization to facilitate a comprehensive inspection. (Para 8)
Issues: Whether the CPIO was justified in denying information on the grounds of non-availability.
For the Appellants/Petitioners:
For the Respondents: Atul Rathi, Gurpreet Singh, Arun Kumar Singh
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. appellant sought records on employee joining dates and esic contributions; cpio and faa denied based on non-availability. (Para 1 , 2 , 3 , 4) |
| 2. respondent argued that records are maintained by the employer (icsil) and not the public authority. (Para 5 , 6 , 7) |
| 3. commission ordered a fresh inspection of records and procurement of documents from relevant branches. (Para 8 , 9 , 10 , 11) |
Relevant facts emerging from Second Appeal/Complaint:
| RTI application filed on | 19/08/2025 |
| CPIO replied on | 03/09/2025 |
| First appeal filed on | 06/09/2025 |
| FAA’s order dated | 30/09/2025 |
| Second Appeal dated | 08/10/2025 |
Information sought:
1. The Appellant filed an RTI application dated 19/08/2025 before the CPIO, Employees State Insurance Corporation, New Delhi seeking the following information:
“1. Actual Date of Joining of the employees whose ESIC joining dates have been recorded as 08.05.2020 in Intelligent Communication Systems India Ltd. (ICSIL).
2. Certified copies of appointment letters and joining reports of these employees.
3. Certified copies of any official explanation/justification provided by ICSIL or ESIC regarding the discrepancy between actual joining dates and the dates reflected in ESIC records.
4. Information regarding the non-deposit of ESIC contributions for the period October 2018 to March 2019 for approximately 400 employees every month, despite the same being charged from both employees and the client departments.
5. Certified copies of correspondence, audit reports, or internal communications between ICSIL and ESIC related to:
a) Delay or failure in registering employees with ESIC for several years despite deduction of contributions.
b) The alleged cover-up whereby approximately 150 employees were fraudulently shown as joining ESIC on the same date (08.05.2020) irrespective of their actual date of joining.
c) The estimated non-deposit of contributions amounting to around 80 lakhs, which were never transferred to ESIC.
6. Comparative records showing actual date of joining of employees vs. the ESIC joining date uploaded/recorded by ICSIL.”
2. The CPIO has furnished a reply to the appellant dated 03/09/2025 stated as under:
| मांगी गई सूचना का क्रमांक | उपलब्ध करवाई गई जानकारी |
| 1 & 2 | No such specific information available in this office. |
| 3 से 6 तक | No such information available in this office. |
3. Aggrieved and dissatisfied, the appellant filed the First Appeal with the first Appellate Authority. The First Appellate Authority vide order dated 30/09/2025 stated as under:
“1. On examination of records available with this office, it has been observed that an application dated 19.08.2025 under RTI Act, 2005, of Sh. Manoj Kumar, Advocate was received in this office on 21.08.2025 through RTI Portal. As per RTI Act, 2005, the CPIO vide his letter dated 03.09.2025 has informed to the applicant, w.r.t. Point No. 1 & 2 of the RTI Application dated 19.08.20255 that "No such specific information available in this office" and for the Point Nos. 3 to 6, it was informed that "No such information available in this office".
2. Further, it is observed that the records sought by the applicant are not the part of this office records. The Employees of a particular unit are being covered under the ESI Act as declared by the employer through online access given to the employer itself. It is also informed that as per Inspection Report dated 19.01.2023 for the Ledger Verification period 2018-19 to 2020-21, the total amount of Rs. 18,32,742/ was detected against Inspection Period and the same has been paid by the employer. Further, as per records, there is no such payment is due/ balance from the employer.
3. Hence, the information supplied by the CPIO was correct as per available records and nothing has been misleading.
4. On perusal of available records, it is observed that information furnished by the CPIO is in order. Therefore, no Interference is required at this stage under RTI Act, 2005. Further, it infor
