Government of India
Ministry of Defence
No. 35
(1)/2013/D (Pay/Services) New
Delhi, the 09 Oct, 2013
ORDER
Subject: Appeal under Section 19 of RTI Act,
2005 filed by Shri SY Savur
Reference is
invited to second appeal dated 30.9.2013 filed by Sh. SY Savur (received on
8.10.2013) against the CPIO, MoD letter No. 35(1)/2013/D(Pay/Services) dated
19.7.2013.
2. It is stated that the matter has
already been considered and reply to your first appeal dated 12.8.2013 has
already been sent on 20.9.2013 (copy enclosed) vide which 491 pages of the
information have been sent to you.
Sd/-----------------------------
(Praveen Kumar)
Director (AG-I) & Appellate Authority
Copy of this
order be supplied to: - Shri SY Savur, 141 Jal Vayu Towers, NGEF Layout, Indira
Nagar (PO), Bangalore-560038
Encl: as above
* * * * *
SYS/RTI/MoD Oct 13
To,
Shri Praveen
Kumar,
Director
(AG-I) & First Appellate Authority,
Ministry of
Defence,
Room No. 103,
Sena Bhawan,
New Delhi –
110 011
Subject: - FAA Orders vide MoD
letter No. 35 (1)/2013 – D (Pay/Services) dated 20 Sep 13 and 09 Oct 13 – regarding
RTI Application dated 24 Jun 13
Please refer to above mentioned Orders.
Below mentioned material facts are for information and action as deemed
necessary by Director (AG-I) and Appellate Authority.
Request for Information under RTI Act 2005 dated 24
Jun 13
2. Hon’ble RM
took a meeting on 14 Jun 13 on the contradictory views on the implementation of
Apex Court order dated 04 Sep 12 in the Rank Pay matter w.r.t. MoD
implementation order dated 27 Dec 12. Hon’ble RM directed MoD and Services HQ to
obtain the opinion of Ld Attorney General for India. The Hon’ble RM also
directed that MoD and Services HQ to send their respective Referrals (or
Statements of Case) directly to the Ld Attorney General.
3. The request under
RTI Act 2005 dated 24 Jun 13 to the US & CPIO, MoD (D-Pay/Services), was for
providing the following information: -
(a) MoD’s Referral (or SoC) to the Ld Attorney
General in compliance of the directive of the Hon’ble RM of 14 Jun 13, and
(b) Whether MoD informed the Ld Attorney (in
the Referral/SoC) that SAI No. 2/S/98 was issued when the Rank Pay matter was
still sub-judice (in the High Court of Kerala in O.P. No. 2448 of 1996N –
Maj Dhanapalan Vs UoI & Others)..
4. The information
from CPIO by MoD letter dated 19 Jul 13 only stated “the file was under submission,” when in truth the file had been
submitted on 17 Jul 13 according to First Appellate Authority (FAA) Order dated
20 Sep 13, and also that “it has not been
specifically mentioned that SAI…..was issued when the matter was sub-judice,” so
a First Appeal was filed.
Tracking First Appeal dated
12 Aug 13
5. Due to non-receipt of (Speed Post)
confirmation of receipt form attached to the envelope, the undersigned tracked the
First Appeal sent by Speed Post on 12 Aug 13 through the India Post website. First
Appeal sent by Speed Post - article EK 297570082IN - was tracked and record is placed
at Annexure ‘A’ (and may be verified from the website www.indiapost.gov.in/tracking.aspx).
6. Director (AG-I) & FAA may wish to
note the discrepancy (of 6 days) between date of delivery as per India Post and
date of receipt stated in Order dated 20 Sep 13.
Provisions of RTI Act 2005 for Disposal of Appeals
7. RTI Act 2005, Section 19 (6) permits a
period of 30 days for reply to a First Appeal. If an extended period upto 45
days is taken, then the reasons for the extended period of time taken are to be recorded in writing.
8. A period of 30 days commencing from 16
Aug was calculated and it ended on 16 Sep 13. Therefore, when no reply was
received from FAA even after 45 days i.e. 30 Sep 13, a Second Appeal was
preferred on 30 Sep 13 and a copy sent to Director (AG-I) & FAA by Speed
Post.
9. Insofar as payment is considered,
attention is invited to Section 6 (6) of the RTI Act 2005, which states “Notwithstanding
anything contained in sub-section (5), the person making request for
the information shall be provided the information free of charge where a public
authority fails to comply with the time limits specified in subsection (1).”
Nevertheless, the 491 pages was returned as it was not relevant to the request
dated 24 Jun 13.
Receipt of Order of FAA dated 20 Sep 13
10. In response to the
First Appeal, covering letter for the information was signed by FAA vide MoD
Order of even reference dated 20 Sep 13. The information (491 pages) was mailed
on 24 Sep 13 as an Unregd Parcel. It was received at the Indira Nagar PO on 07
Oct 13 (photocopy of franking stamps placed at Annexure ‘C’). It was dropped in
the mail box of the undersigned on 08 Oct 13. No reasons recorded in writing for taking more than 30 days are part
of the Order dated 20 Sep 13.
Intimation of Filing Second Appeal
11. The copy the
Second Appeal was sent to FAA on 30 Sep 13 by Speed Post (please see delivery
record placed at Annexure ‘B’). Director (AG-I) & FAA may wish to note that
India Post reported to have been delivered on 03 Sep 13 but received by on 08
Oct 13.
Return of Enclosures (491 pages) to Appellate
Authority
12. The anomalies in CPIO’s reply dated 19
Jul 13 and reasons (information not relevant to request) for returning the
information attached with the order of FAA dated 20 Sep 13 have been elucidated
in letter of even reference dated 09 Oct 13. A copy of the same has been
attached to the application for withdrawal of Second Appeal addressed to O/o
CIC.
Yours sincerely,
Sd/-------------------
Encl: as stated
Annexure
‘A’
Track Result for:EK297570082IN
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Detailed Track
Events For EK297570082IN
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Annexure ‘B’
Track Result for:EK420245670IN
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Detailed Track
Events For EK420245670IN
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Annexure ‘C’
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