By IANS,
New Delhi : The Indian Army has been asked by the Central Information Commission (CIC) to reveal the number of army personnel who were dismissed without being served a showcause notice in the last three years.
The CIC decision came on an application filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act by B.S. Guraya, who asked for the total number of army personnel dismissed from service without a showcause notice under the Army Act from Jan 1, 1980, till date.
The army had refused to give him information after which he approached the CIC.
During a CIC hearing, Brigadier Ved Parkash objected to the disclosure of the information, stating that it was not being maintained in the format in which it has been sought and that collection and collation of the information would disproportionately divert the organisation’s resources.
Information Commissioner M.L. Sharma agreed with him and said: “Information sought is for last 30 years. The Indian Army is a huge organisation. The information is not being maintained in the format in which it has been sought and if I were to ask the CPIO (Central Public Information Officer) to collect and collate this information, it would undoubtedly divert the resources of the organisation.”
“Notwithstanding this and in the true spirit of the RTI Act, in my view, it would be expedient to direct the CPIO to provide information only for last three years – 2007, 2008 and 2009,” he said.
“It is clarified that information is to be provided only for the officer cadre and not for other ranks. It is also clarified that only numbers are to be provided to the applicant and not names of the officers,” Sharma noted.
He asked the Indian Army to follow the order within four weeks.