Nafe Singh Rana v. Central Public Information Officer, Hpcl

$~41 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI + NAFE SINGH RANA ..... Petitioner Through:

Mr. Parveen Kumar Aggarwal and Mr. Abhishek Grover, Advocates.

versus CENTRAL PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, HPCL ..... Respondent Through:

Ms. Priyanka Das, Advocate.

CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SUBRAMONIUM PRASAD

O R D E R

% 04.03.2024 1.

The Petitioner has approached this Court challenging an Order dated 10.01.2018 by which the Central Information Commission upheld that reply letter dated 13.04.2016 issued by the CPIO which was also upheld by the Appellate Authority vide Order dated 14.06.2016 wherein the information sought for by the Petitioner was refused to be granted on the ground that the request pertains to information which is more than 20 years old. 2.

The facts indicate that the Petitioner had filed an RTI application on 08.03.2016. The application is being reproduced in its entirety, which reads as under:- "To, Manager, Persormel and Administration Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, UCO Bank Limited, Parliament Street, Post Box No.225, New Delhi-110001 The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.

Subject:- To obtain Information under the Right to formation Sir, That on 23.06.1994 a letter was issued (photocopy attached) through which letter I was told that the certificates of educational qualifications are forged and as such I am ineligible for the employment. I am requesting you to provide me a photocopy of document which indicate my qualification certificates as forged. I have attached a postal order bearing No. 79G483635 in the sum of Rs. 10/-.

Signature Dated-08/03/2016 N. S. Rana S/o Shri Net Ram Nijampur Khurd"

3.

A perusal of the above application shows that the Petitioner is seeking a letter dated 23.06.1994 through which, the Petitioner was told that the certificates of the educational qualifications are forged. Admittedly, letter dated 23.06.1994 is being sought after a period of 20 years. The said information is clearly hit by Section 8(3) of the RTI Act, which reads as under:- "8.(3) Subject to the provisions of clauses (a), (c) and (i) of sub-section (1), any information relating to any occurrence, event or matter which has taken place, occurred or happened twenty years before the date on which any request is made under section 6 shall be provided to any person making a request under that section:

Provided that where any question arises as to the date from which the said period of twenty years has to be computed, the decision of the Central Government shall be final, subject to the usual appeals provided for in this Act."

The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.

4.

In view of the above, this Court does not find any reason to interfere with the Order dated 10.01.2018 passed by the CIC upholding the order of the CPIO and the Appellate Authority in refusing to provide the information on the ground that the information which has been sought by the Petitioner is more than 20 years old.

5.

The writ petition is dismissed along with pending application(s), if any.

SUBRAMONIUM PRASAD, J MARCH 4, 2024 hsk The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.