The Punjab and Haryana High Court allowed the Petitions filed by Punjab State Federation of Co-operative Sugar Mills Ltd. and held that the Right to Information Act, 2005 does not give a right to anyone to seek information with a motive, which amounts to harassing the employees of the Department.

The High Court was considering the writ petitions challenging the order by which, a direction was given by the State Information Commission, Punjab to release the information sought by a lawyer (complainant).

The Single Bench of Justice Harsimran Singh Sethi held, “The Right to Information Act, 2005 (hereinafter referred as RTI Act, 2005) has been enacted to ensure the transparency of work within the Departments. The same does not give a right to anyone to seek information with a motive, which amounts to harassing the employees of the Department.”

Advocate Rahul Sharma-I represented the petitioner while Deputy Advocate General Akshita Chauhan represented the Respondent.

Arguments

It was the case of the petitioner-Cooperative Society that the complete record of the Department had been sought for and this was only a way to harass the petitioner Society.

Reasoning

At the outset, the Bench explained that under the Right to Information Act, 2005 no one can seek information with a motive which amounts to harassing the employees of the Department. On a perusal of the application, the Bench noted that the information sought was regarding the sale and the auction of the Molasses, Baggasse and Press Mud including the details of the minimum bidders. Further, copies of all the orders placed by the Central and the State Governments for the sale of the molasses, notice inviting tenders, the bidders and the documents received by them, the document showing the deposit of the earnest money qua the said tenders and the award of the contract to the successful bidders, had also been sought.

Noticing that third-party information was being sought from the petitioner-Cooperative Society as to who competed for the purchase of the Molasses, Baggasse and Press Mud, the Bench observed, “As per the settled principle of law, third party information as to who had submitted the bid and what were the documents submitted by the said person, cannot be given under the RTI Act, 2005 as the same is barred under Rule 8.” Reference was also made to the judgment of the Apex Court in Central Board of Secondary Education and another vs. Aditya Bandopadhyay and others (2011).

The Bench stated that the information being sought by the respondent No.2-complainant, couldn’t be given. Considering the fact that the matter had been pending for the last 10 years and no efforts were made qua upholding the impugned order by the complainant, the Bench held that the same showed that even the respondent-complainant was not interested in pursuing the present remedy.

In another Petition, information being sought was regarding the certified copies relating to the employees, works and expenditure incurred by Punjab State Federation of Cooperative Sugar Mills Ltd. (Sugarfed Punjab) for the period from April 1, 2009 till date. Relying upon the judgment of the Apex Court in Canara Bank Rep. By its Deputy Gen. Manager vs. C.S. Shyam and another (2017), the Bench held that the same couldn’t be asked for.

Thus, allowing the Petitions, the Bench set aside the impugned orders.

Cause Title: Punjab State Federation of Co-operative Sugar Mills Ltd. v. The State Information Commission, Punjab and another (Neutral Citation: 2025:PHHC:030652)

Appearance:

Petitioner: Advocate Rahul Sharma-I

Respondent: Deputy Advocate General Akshita Chauhan

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Punjab & Haryana High CourtJustice Harsimran Singh Sethi

Tulip Kanth

Assistant Editor

Tulip Kanth is an Assistant Editor at Verdictum having over 5 years of experience in the field of legal journalism and editing. She extensively covers judgments of the Supreme Court, High Courts as well as Tribunals. She has previously worked with a legal publishing website where she oversaw the work of other editors and has also created updates on notifications of different Government Ministries. She holds an English Honours Degree from SGTB Khalsa College, Delhi University and has completed her LLB course with specialisation in Corporate Law from Amity University.