By Rana Ajit, IANS
New Delhi : Can a man who retired as a senior officer of a nationalised bank and owns residential property in Delhi's upscale Safdarjung Development Area figure in the list of persons living below the poverty line (BPL)?
Delhi south district's deputy commissioner had no doubts before issuing a certificate to such a person and the Central Information Commission is forced to accept it as authentic, despite doubts expressed by finance ministry officials.
The unique case relates to 82-year-old Som Datt Chhabra, who retired as Assistant Regional Manager of Punjab National Bank and lives in what he claims to be his ancestral home in the Safdarjung Development Area in upscale south Delhi.
In August last year, Chhabra approached the Banking Division of the Department of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance for some information under the provisions of the Right to Information Act.
His application, however, mentioned that "he was a person below poverty line as his monthly income was only Rs 1,400 and so he was not liable to pay any copying charges" for the information being sought.
The Central Public Information Officer of the department, however, wrote back to Chhabra the following month asking him to "submit a proof of his BPL status as per the Delhi Government scheme for supplying the information free of cost".
Alternatively, the officials asked him to "deposit the required fee of Rs 192 towards photocopying charges".
Immediately Chhabra submitted an income certificate, issued by the office of Delhi south district's deputy commissioner, stating that his monthly income was Rs 1,316 and he qualifies for inclusion in the BPL list.
But the ministry officials, doubting the authenticity of the document, refused to part with the information free of cost.
The dispute reached the Central Information Commission (CIC), where the ministry officials expressed surprise before Information Commissioner A.N. Tiwari "as to how Chhabra, who retired as Assistant Regional Manager from Punjab National Bank and was residing in an area like Safdarjung Development Area can be a person of BPL status".
"They also refused to accept the 'Income Certificate' submitted by the appellant as a valid 'BPL Certificate'," Tiwari noted in his judgement last week.
But Chhabra vouched for the authenticity of his income certificate and contended that the house in which he stayed was ancestral property.
Resolving the dispute, Tiwari ordered the ministry officials to supply the requisite information to Chhabra, saying, "It emerged during the hearing that income certificate of a person is enough documentary evidence to determine whether the person is under BPL category or not. And Chhabra has already submitted the income certificate."