The single judge bench of the Madras High Court held that once an individual accepts to join public service, he must accept that he lives in public glare and cannot avoid the general public from seeking details at least so far as their service is concerned.
It was furthermore held that the assets and liability of a public servant will have to be necessarily disclosed and cannot be shielded from public scrutiny but there should be a reasonable restriction of the same.
Brief facts:
The factual matrix of the case is that the petitioners had sought information from the third respondent about the disproportionate wealth of an Assistant Engineer in the Water Reservoir Project, however, the information was not furnished. Then, the Petitioner preferred a first appeal under Section 19(1) of the Right to Information Act, 2005 before the second respondent. But the information had again not been furnished. The petitioners then filed a Second Appeal before the first respondent. Then, the information was also not provided.
Thereafter, the petitioners then filed a petition under Section 6(1) of the Right to Information Act 2005 before the third respondent and sought information relating to the Panchayat Secretary relating to his service Register book from the date of his first joining as a Government Servant till 31.01.2023 and also about the movable and immovable assets in his name and in the names of his family members. An order was passed stating that the information sought related to the personal information of the individual cannot be granted. Therefore, the present writ petition is filed.
Observations of the court:
The Hon’ble Court observed that the assets and liability of a public servant will have to be necessarily disclosed and cannot be shielded from public scrutiny but there should be a reasonable restriction of the same. Such information which could not harm the career of the public servant could also be disclosed like the date of his joining the service, the date of promotion if any, and the nature of work discharged by him. But there is certain information that necessarily has to be protected from being disclosed. Therefore, the materials available in the service register would have to be scrutinized and the reason why those materials are required also has to be verified and examined by the Officials concerned. There cannot be an order denying every information. Even if any information is sought to be denied or to be disclosed, then necessary reasons for such denial should be provided.
The court furthermore observed that details particularly the date of joining and the date attaining the age of superannuation are certainly not private information. The assets and liabilities are again not private.
The court noted that once an individual accepts to join public service, he must accept that he lives in public glare and cannot avoid the general public from seeking details at least so far as their service is concerned.
Based on these considerations, the court was of the opinion that the impugned order deserves to be set aside.
The decision of the court:
With the above direction, the court allowed the writ petition.
Case Title: M.Tamilselvan v. The District Collector
Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice C.V. Karthikeyan
Case No: W.P.No. 33854 of 2024
Advocate for the Petitioner: Mr. R.Thirumoorthy
Advocates for the Respondent: Mr. C.Vigneswaran Senior Counsel, Mr. S.J.Mohamed Sathik Government Advocate Mr.J.Ramkuma
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