Staff entitled to information on defunct company, says CIC

  1. Central Information Commission(CIC) has delivered a ruling in favour of the employees of Cambata aviation company.This ruling may empower the Jet Airways employees who are protesting against the airlines for their delayed salaries.
  2. In August 2016,India’s first private ground-handling company Cambata Aviation had stopped operations leaving behind employees with pending salaries and unpaid benefits.Later,allegations of tax fraud and financial irregularities reportedly brought the company under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate.
  3. Further,Cambata employee filed a Right to Information(RTI) request demanding financial and regulatory information about the company from the Income Tax department but was denied on the grounds that it was personal information.He then filed an appeal in CIC.
  4. Central Information Commission(CIC) has ruled that the information must be released.CIC has said that the exemption given to personal information under the RTI Act referred to an individual human being and not a corporate entity.It added that the details sought were in the larger public interest of the company’s employees.
  5. The Central Information Commission (CIC) is an 11 member commission set up under the Right to Information Act,2005 as a quasi judicial body.It is the highest appeal body available to applicants seeking information under the RTI Act.