TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2007 (7) TMI 421
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.... on the aforesaid Machines and name of the Units having paid such Excise on the aforesaid Machines. If no excise is collected on the aforesaid machines, reasons for not collecting the same from the Promoter/occupiers of the premises. (c) Whether any Bank is responsible for financing the aforesaid machines so located on the aforesaid plot bearing No. D-32, MIDC, Satpur, Nashik and on whom the excise is not paid or collected. If yes, please give details of Banks and other institutions/agencies who have participated in defrauding Excise Department of its revenue with the Promoters/Occupants of the aforesaid premises and reasons for same being ignored by the Excise Department. (d) Please give details on any litigation pending in respect of Units bases at D-32, MIDC, Satpur, Nashik-7; Please give details of inspection and other reports in respect of units located at D-32 MIDC, Satpur. (e) Please give details of any action initiated for recovery of any dues on aforesaid units based at plot No. D-32, MIDC, Satpur, Nashik- 7; Please give action taken on promoters/occupants of Units based at plot No. D-32, MIDC, Satp....
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....c Authority. 4. The 1st Appellate Authority partly agreed with appellant Shri Barla and held that information regarding the date since when the dues are pending and the details of rate of interest should be provided to the appellant. The Appellate Authority, however, held that information relating to points (b) to (h) are just questions made in the form of enquiry and, therefore, do not fall within the ambit of Right to Information Act, 2005. 5. Aggrieved by the decision of the 1st Appellate Authority appellant Shri Barla approached the Central Information Commission in 2nd Appeal dated 30-11-2006. In his 2nd appeal, the appellant has cited Section 2(j) of the Act and submitted that the right to information as defined under the Act includes : (i) inspection of work, documents, records; (ii) taking notes extracts or certified copies of documents or records; (iii) taking certified samples of material; (iv) obtaining information in the form of diskettes, floppies, tapes, videocassettes or in any other electronic mode or through printouts where such information is stored in a computer or....
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....nd now what remains to be recovered is only interest and respondents are making efforts to realize the said amount of interest. (ii) The respondents further submitted that on inspection of the premises at D32, MIDC, Satpur, Nasik, it was found that one Himansu Print-O-Pack owned the same. (iii) The respondent submitted that a criminal case No. 132/2005 under Sections 468, 467, 419 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code has been filed in which the appellant is the main accused. (iv) The appellant is asking for the information in his own private interest and not in public interest. (v) As far as the authenticity about the FIR, charge sheet etc. is concerned, it was submitted that a copy of the same has already been sent to the Central Information Commission. (vi) The respondents further submitted that they are not concerned with the cases going on in the Court. They are concerned with only pending dues of excise, which has already been recovered, and they are making efforts to recover the interest that has accrued on the pending dues. Issues for Determination : 9. (I) Whether the "infor....
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....ents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force; 13. The definition of the word 'information' has to be read in conjunction with the definition of 'record' appearing in Section 2(i) of the RTI Act which reads as under : (i) "record" includes - (a) any document, manuscript and file; (b) any microfilm, microfiche and facsimile copy of a document; (c) any reproduction of image or images embodied in such microfilm (whether enlarged or not); and (d) any other material produced by a computer or any other device; 14. Thus, information would mean any material in existence and apparently it cannot mean and include something that is not in existence or has to be created. An "opinion" or an "advice" if it is a part of the record is "information" but one cannot seek from a PIO eithe....
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....esaid Machines. If no excise is collected on the aforesaid machines, reasons for not collecting the same from the Promoter/occupiers of the premises." Whether the inspection has taken place or not is a question of fact. The CPIO is required, therefore, to respond as to whether the said premises were ever inspected and if so on which date. If the information concerning inspections, if conducted, is available, the same constitutes information that should be provided and, if not, the CPIO should make an affirmative statement about the non-availability of the information. Nonetheless, it is incumbent on the part of the CPIO to ascertain about the availability or otherwise of the concerned information, keeping in mind that he is obliged to give information if there is any information either held or under the control of the concerned public authority. If the information relates to a third party, he should follow the procedure prescribed by Section 11 of the RTI Act. Similarly, other points raised by the applicant in his RTI application should be accordingly dealt with. 18. In paras (c) & (f) of his RTI application, the appellant is asking a hypothetical question which apparent....