CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has dismissed a writ appeal challenging the order of a single judge bench upholding the Central Information Commission (CIC)’s decision to deny information regarding pre-paid Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) mobile connections in Odisha Circle.
The division bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice Chittaranjan Dash said the CIC noted that providing the information sought would warrant a directive to the BSNL to collect and compile information at the cost of diverting their own resources from day-to-day work.
The BSNL’s stand was that the information sought is huge and voluminous containing several files and without disproportionately
diverting the resources of the public authority, it is simply not possible to provide the information.
“The single judge has found merit in the above contention and has concurred in the view that the information sought is vague and vexatious and unrelated to transparency and accountability in the functioning of public authority,” the division bench observed while upholding the single judge’s order on October 11.
The writ appeal was filed by Kailash Chandra Panda, an employee of BSNL. He had sought information regarding the total number of pre-paid mobile connections in Odisha Circle as of December 31, 2013, the number of pre-paid connections, particulars of activation of ‘Hello Tune’ on pre-paid mobiles in October 2013, the stay particulars of all the staff working in the unit.
In its February 13, 2015 order CIC had held that the information sought was not in the larger public interest and therefore cannot be provided. Panda then challenged the CIC order in the High Court. But the bench of Justice BR Sarangi dismissed the petition on August 19, 2016. Panda had then filed a writ appeal against the order the same year.