RTI Court Decision: IPS officer not given medal despite name in winner

[Sajib Nandi]

Reported by Zeenews.india.com on July 21, 2012
IPS officer not given medal despite name in winner

New Delhi: Central Information Commission has directed the Home Ministry to give clear information on why an IPS officer was not given Police Medal for meritorious service, even though his name was in the list of winners and Home Secretary sent him a congratulatory telegram.

The strange case relates to 1993 batch Tamil Nadu cadre IPS officer Shailesh Kumar Yadav, currently posted in Tamil Nadu DGP office, whose name was in the list of Police medal of Meritorious Service winners of August 2009.

He was even sent a congratulatory telegram from Home Ministry in this regard.

Yadav, who was posted at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences at the time the winners were announced, did not get his medal and citation following which he took the RTI route to know the status of his award.

He asked the Home Ministry the reasons for delay in according him the honour and whether other officers, who figured in the award list, had already been given medals and citations.

The Central Public Information Officer of the Ministry refused to provide information saying the details sought did not come under the definition of information under RTI Act.

"It is not denied by the respondent (MHA) that appellant's name was published on its website for award of the Police Medal for Meritorious Service, nor is the congratulatory telegram of the Union Home Secretary which was sent to the appellant in this regard, denied," Information Commissioner Information Commissioner said.

Rejecting the arguments of MHA, she said the officials have not quoted any provisions of the RTI Act for denying the information which is "no doubt held by them in their record".

Directing them to provide information, she said, "The Commission is of the view that the queries have to be replied to, as per record held by the Public Authority."

[Sajib Nandi]

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Reported by Aman Sharma in Indiatoday.intoday.in on July 22, 2012
Tamil Nadu cop yet to get medal he was awarded in 2009 : India, News - India Today


A medal hunt has seen the Ministry of Home Affairs(MHA) getting dragged to the Central Information Commission(CIC). Bizarre though it may sound, truth is the police commissioner of Trichy in Tamil Nadu has approached the CIC seeking an answer as to the fate of the medal that was awarded to him in 2009.

Shailesh Kumar Yadav, a 1993 batch IPS officer, claimed that on August 14, 2009, he got a telegram from the then Union home secretary G. K. Pillai, congratulating him on winning the President's Police Medal for meritorious service.

His name subsequently found mention in the home ministry's list of awardees.

But surprisingly, he never got the medal, even though three years have passed since the announcement.

On June 27 last year, Yadav filed an RTI application with the MHA, seeking information on whether the President's Police Medal for meritorious service and the certificate for 2009 had been given to any of the officers whose names figure along with him on the home ministry's website.

"When and where will I get the above awarded medal?" he asked, adding, "Why has been the delivery of the medal and the certificate delayed?" In his RTI query, Yadav also sought copies of all communication that may have taken place pertaining to the delay in delivering the medal.

The home ministry, through its director(police) Inderjeet Kaur, replied to the RTI, saying, "The query raised in your application under reference is not covered under the definition of information."

The first appellate authority in the MHA also dismissed Yadav's appeal. He then decided to approach the CIC against the home ministry. On May 21 this year, Yadav also came to Delhi from Trichy to attend a CIC hearing.

In Thursday's judgment, the CIC said the home ministry has neither denied that Yadav's name finds mention among the list of awardees nor the point that he had got a congratulatory telegram. But at the same time, the CIC also pointed out that no reason was provided by the MHA for dismissing Yadav's appeal.

"The MHA has not quoted any provision of the RTI Act for denying the information, which is no doubt held by it in its record. The commission is of the view that Yadav's queries should be replied to within 10 days of receipt of this order," the CIC ordered.

Yadav refused to comment on the order.