CBEC Commissioners’ transfers – commercial?
A Chennai based advocate asked the CBEC to furnish a list of Commissioners due for transfer as sent to the placement committee and the minutes of the Committee. You can’t get any information easily from the government but what is surprising is the reasons they can think of to refuse to part with the information. The CPIO informed the advocate that the information cannot be parted with as per Rules 8(d) and 8(j) of the RTI Act. (What he meant was the sections and not rules) As per these sections there shall be no obligation to give the following information.
(d) information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information;
(j) information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information:
Now the CPIO says that the information on Commissioners’ transfer list cannot be given as they are covered under the above provisions. Now that raises the questions
1. Are the transfers commercial?
2. Do they affect the competitive interest of a third party?
3. Are there any trade secrets involved in transfer of commissioners?
If so, the people of this country are certainly entitled to know at what prices the postings are going. At least this information should be made public so that prospective bidders can know the market. At least there should be some transparency in commercial activities including transfers. The stock market may fall but the transfer industry seems to be thriving in spite of policies and Right To Information Acts. (Please see our TIOL exclusive storyfor more details)