Personal information of govt employee can be disclosed subject to condition

[bpagrawal]

Personal information of govt employee can be disclosed if State Public Information Officer or appellate authority is satisfied that larger public interest justifies disclosure of such information,
We are in agreement with the CIC and the courts below that the details called for by the petitioner i.e. copies of all memos issued to the third respondent, show-cause notices and orders of censure/punishment, etc. are qualified to be personal information as defined in clause (j) of Section 8(1) of the RTI Act. The performance of an employee/officer in an organisation is primarily a matter between the employee and the employer and normally those aspects are governed by the service rules which fall under the expression "personal information", the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or public interest. On the other hand, the disclosure of which would cause unwarranted invasion of privacy of that individual. Of course, in a given case, if the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information, appropriate orders could be passed but the petitioner cannot claim those details as a matter of right.


Supreme Court of India
R.K.Jain vs Union Of India & Anr on 16 April, 2013
http://www.lawweb.in/2013/09/personal-information-of-govt-employee.html