The Madras High Court recently ruled that the service register of a public servant cannot be entirely exempted from disclosure under Section 8 of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Section 8(j) of the RTI Act exempts personal information from being made public.
Justice CV Karthikeyan, in his ruling, observed that the service register of a public servant includes details such as the assets and liabilities of the employee, which are not considered private information. He emphasized that such details should be open to public scrutiny and cannot be hidden from public view. However, the judge also clarified that while this information must be disclosed, there should be reasonable restrictions in place.
The court stated, “No doubt, it is true that the assets and liabilities 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. Information that does not harm the career of the public servant, such as the date of joining the service, promotion details, and nature of work, can also be disclosed.”
Furthermore, the court added that the materials in the service register should be carefully reviewed. If any information is denied, the officials responsible must provide valid reasons for the refusal.
The court observed, “The materials available in the service register must be scrutinized, and the reasons for denying or disclosing the information must be verified and examined by the concerned officials. An order denying all information is not acceptable. If any information is withheld, valid reasons for the denial should be provided.”
This decision came in response to a petition filed by M Tamilselvan, who challenged the order of the Revenue Divisional Officer, North Madras, for refusing to provide personal details of public servants. Tamilselvan had initially requested information about the disproportionate wealth of an Assistant Engineer in the Water Reservoir Project Sub-Division, Krishnagiri Taluk. When the information was denied, he filed an appeal under Section 19(1) of the RTI Act. He had also sought details from the service register of a Panchayat Secretary.
The denial was based on the argument that the requested information was protected under Section 8 of the RTI Act. The court found this explanation insufficient and stated that once an individual joins public service, they must accept that their service details are open to public scrutiny.
As a result, the court sent the matter back to the District Collector for a fresh review and directed that the appeal be resolved within two months, following the legal procedures outlined in the RTI Act.
