Denial of promotion - information sought under rti act
Prakash Jha
(Querist) 24 October 2014
This query is : Resolved
Dear Sir,
I was denied promotion by my company (a CPSU) without communication of any adverse remarks or reasons.
I demanded following information under the RTI Act for which I received following replies / Information.
1. Full copies of Annual Appraisal Reports/ Annual Confidential Reports/ Performance Appraisal Reports of the undersigned for the last Five Years.
Reply: Information Provided
2. Full copies of reports/ recommendations of Departmental Promotion Committees (DPC) in which the undersigned was considered for promotion from S1 to S3, S3 to E2 and E2 to E2A levels.
Information Denied
Reason: The information as sought by you is personal in nature (DPC Members) and is denied u/s 8(1)(j) of Right to Information Act.
3. Full copy of all Rules, Regulation, Office Orders and Circulars applicable for promotion of executives from E2 to E2A level.
Information Provided
4. Specific grounds/ reasons for denial/ rejection of promotion to the undersigned for promotion to E2 to E2A level.
Information Denied
Reason: The information as sought by you does not fall in the definition of Information as it occurs in Section 2 (f) of Right to Information Act.
May kindly advise (citing the latest CIC/ Court Decisions) whether grounds denial of Information under Sr. No. 2 and Sr. No. 4 above are good in law and whether they can be contested with the appellate authority,.
Sudhir Kumar, Advocate
(Expert) 25 October 2014
I find it as probably another case of using RTI to your detriment.
Sudhir Kumar, Advocate
(Expert) 25 October 2014
2. Full copies of reports/ recommendations of Departmental Promotion Committees (DPC) in which the undersigned was considered for promotion from S1 to S3, S3 to E2 and E2 to E2A levels.
Information Denied
Reason: The information as sought by you is personal in nature (DPC Members) and is denied u/s 8(1)(j) of Right to Information Act.
Section 8(1)(j) is as under
(j) information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information:
Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person.
THE DECISION OF CPIO DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE CORRECT.
Sudhir Kumar, Advocate
(Expert) 25 October 2014
If you are interested to play RTI-RTI the way is open for CIC.
In case you are interested to discuss vindication of promotion related grievance then confirm so that this aspect could be discussed.
The for purpose of discussion you can be enlightened to as how your query does not contain vital information.
Prakash Jha
(Querist) 25 October 2014
Sir, I am highly thankful for your reply and guidance. Just 2 queries:-
1. In one post you have clearly mentioned that "THE DECISION OF CPIO DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE CORRECT" immediately in the next post without any specific reference you have stated that "The decision of CPIO is correct".
I am slightly confused pls clarify.
2. Yes I am interested to discuss vindication of promotion related grievance and also wish to understand as how my query does not contain vital information.
Regards
Guest
(Expert) 25 October 2014
Dear Author,Your Title Name is Not acceptable by me.You have also Not Up Dated / Filled your Personal Profile I would prefer you to be Treated Anonymous and Ignored before any Un Pleasant things could happen
Prakash Jha
(Querist) 25 October 2014
Ok Sir I will update my profile and hope that my identity and contact information shall be kept private and cofidential
Guest
(Expert) 25 October 2014
Please so that you would be Recognised More and Experts could deal with you with More Confidence and Trust.Many Persons who had not up dated their Profile continue as Experts and behave in a Bad ways which hurts the Genuine Experts.
Sudhir Kumar, Advocate
(Expert) 25 October 2014
You said
"2. Yes I am interested to discuss vindication of promotion related grievance and also wish to understand as how my query does not contain vital information."
But you are not at all discussing your promotion problem.
Guest
(Expert) 25 October 2014
Dear Author,as advised and agreed by your good self i would request you to fill up your Profile/Personal details before continuing this thread please.
Prakash Jha
(Querist) 25 October 2014
Profile updated please.
All contact information correct
Prakash Jha
(Querist) 25 October 2014
Sir, brief background of my case is as under:-
1. Recently I appeared in a DPC interview alongwith 15 other candidates. DPC Committee recommended promotion of all the candidates except myself.
2. No reasons were communicated to me verbally or in writing for denial of promotion.
3. I have never been communicated any adverse remarks in my ACR.
4. In my entire career of years there has not been even a single instance where my professional or personal conduct has been questioned.
5. No vigilance or disciplinary proceeding has ever been instituted by any authority in any of the organizations where I have worked till date.
6. There are no pending Civil or Criminal Proceeding decided/ pending against me in any court or law.
For the above reasons I wish to appeal against denial of promotion to me. In this regard Company’s Promotion Policy stipulates as under:-
13.0 APPEAL:
13.1 An executive who is aggrieved by an order of promotion on the ground that he has been superseded may appeal or represent his case to the CMD through proper channel. Representations/appeal must be submitted within 45 days of the date of notification of promotion with sufficient evidence and justification. Flimsy appeals may lead to reprimand against the Executive.
CMD may intervene under following circumstances:-
a) There is improper interpretation or application of rules.
b) The ACRs have not been recorded in fair manner and there is sufficient ground for proving biased recording.
c) DPC has not given marks in a fair manner and there is a sufficient ground to prove bias.
It would be fairly obvious from above that for the purpose of filing an appeal before the higher authority I would need to have concrete evidence / justification / ground for preferring an appeal which cannot be established until I know in the first place the exact reason for which I was denied promotion by the DPC.
Now as you know ACR & DPC proceedings are “Confidential” documents and as such cannot be demanded through an administrative procedure. Thus I had no choice but to resort to RTI to obtain the above information.
However, It appears the management is cleverly using the loopholes in the RTI to deny this information to me so that I am unable to defend my case and the time for preferring an appeal lapses.
The quoted RTI information was also deliberately delayed until the 30th day on which the same was sent be registered post which reached me on the 36th day.
May please advice.
Guest
(Expert) 26 October 2014
Dear Sir,Before We could Proceed with your Query Please Up Date your "About Me" Profile in your Site.
Anirudh
(Expert) 26 October 2014
If as per your ACR you are eligible for promotion, then the only thing that could have denied you the promotion in the given situation is your marks in the DPC interview. What is the minimum marks required to be scored in the interview to be eligible for promotion? Do you know you scored equal to or more than that? That is the vital information which you require rather than at point (2) and (4) of your RTI application.
Now that you may be running out of time, just make a representation/appeal to the Authority concerned by stating that you are due for promotion; that there was DPC interview; that while 14 others were promoted you were not even though your ACRs for the relevant years are (say whatever grading) and no adverse remarks had been communicated. Wait for the outcome and then act as the situation demands depending upon the outcome of your appeal/representation.
Sudhir Kumar, Advocate
(Expert) 26 October 2014
You say:-
"management is cleverly using the loopholes in the RTI to deny this information to me so that I am unable to defend my case and the time for preferring an appeal lapses."
NO
It is you who is manipulating the legal structure against you and the management has just to ride on the waves created by you in wrong direction.
You may remember that at the outset even before you described the problem I stated that "probably another case of using RTI to your detriment."
If you are really interested in harming (beyond repair) your good case RTI Act provides ample scope.
Sudhir Kumar, Advocate
(Expert) 26 October 2014
You have still not clarified whether the higher post is selection post of non-selection post.
In selection post the junior can be promoted even if the senior is eligible with no adverse reporting.
In case of non-selection the seniority cannot be overlooked as long as senior is eligible.
If it was non-selection post and you have not been communicated any adverse (now below bench mark is also to be communicated) and there is no vigilance/criminal case against you then you have a good case to represent without wasting good part of life in RTI. In case your grievance is not redressed you can approach the Court. But for this purpose you have to act without wasting time in futile exercise.
Prakash Jha
(Querist) 26 October 2014
Sir, few more updates:-
Firstly, all the 15 persons are equal in seniority as all of them were appointed and have joined the service on the same date.
Secondly your have advised me to represent the case. I have already quoted the relevant rule containing procedure for appeal to the competent authority.
But my biggest problem is that ...I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE WHY THE PROMOTION WAS DENIED TO ME?????.
As regards DPC interview I was just only asked one or two casual questions (lasting 2-3 minutes) like - which department I worked before this department ? how is the work in the department etc.? which I conveniently answered. The DPC members appeared to be casual and happy and did not convey me any adverse comments.
Now if I appeal to the competent authority without concrete grounds/ evidence there is a fair possibility that my appeal would be turned down or worst I could be reprimanded for filing an appeal on flimsy grounds.
Under the circumstances how do I know the reason for denial of promotion. There is no procedure or rule in our HR Manual which allows disclosure of ACR or DPC Marks or proceedings to employee. Under RTI at least I was able to obtain copies of my ACR which are absolutely clean.
I have already filed an interim appeal before the competent authority just lodging my protest against the denial however I would need to establish / substantiate my case with factual and documentary evidence which is not in my possession. Classic situation of chicken first or egg first.
Pls advise
Guest
(Expert) 26 October 2014
The information should not have been denied on account of the following point-by-point reasons:
(2) Reports/ recommendations of Departmental Promotion Committees cannot be treated personal to the DPC members, as that relates to the official processes of the DPC, not the personal information of the recommending DPC members.
(4) Specific grounds/ reasons for denial/ rejection of promotion can also not be categorised under sec. 2(f), as the reasons fall within the scope of "opinions, advices," which very much fall under the definition of the information.
You may therefore file appeal to the Appellate Authority against the orders of the CPIO.
Prakash Jha
(Querist) 26 October 2014
Sir, I sincerely thank you for your valuable learned advice...
Guest
(Expert) 26 October 2014
You are welcome Mr. Jha.
Rajendra K Goyal
(Expert) 26 October 2014
If aggrieved with the decision of CPIO go for first appeal.
Sudhir Kumar, Advocate
(Expert) 26 October 2014
There is nothing classic or unique about your situation. You may like to go to appeal under RTI procedure for mental satisfaction.
CIC WILL NOT GIVE PROMOTION
But more important is that you have represented and should meet your lawyer with all papers as time will be approaching for you to go to court.
Court has powers to call DPC papers.
Prakash Jha
(Querist) 26 October 2014
Sudhir Sir I understand & acknowledge that your advice is bitter but true.
Just knowing the reason is no substitute for relief.
As adviced I am all prepared to take the legal recourse
Sudhir Kumar, Advocate
(Expert) 28 October 2014
Probably you are more interested in playing RTI-RTI.
New thread at
http://www.lawyersclubindia.com/forum/Denial-of-promotion-information-under-rti-act-111264.asp#.VE-NdGeO5G0
Prakash Jha
(Querist) 02 November 2014
No Sir its an old thread on a different forum which I posted alongwith this post.....you can see the date of posting
