Uttarakhand High Court Directs Centre To Provide Records Regarding Empanelment Of IFS Sanjeev Chaturvedi As Joint Secretary

Recently, the Uttarakhand High Court directed the Centre to provide records relating to the process and decision-making leading to the empanelment of Sanjeev Chaturvedi (IFS) to the position of Joint Secretary at the Centre.

The dispute pertains to not approving the appointment of Chaturvedi and another officer to the post of Joint Secretary or equivalent position at the Centre by the Appointment Committee of Cabinet (ACC) in a decision taken on 15.11.2022.

Initially, Chaturvedi approached the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) to seek details of the record of the decision-making process, however, the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) refused to direct the Centre to provide a record to the Chaturvedi citing confidentiality of the decision-making process being barred under Section 8(1)(i) of the RTI Act.

Following this, a Writ Petition was filed before the High Court with a prayer that his records, which he had sought under the RTI Act, needed to be supplied to him.

Acceding to the Chaturvedi's prayer, who was appearing in person, the bench comprising Chief Justice Ritu Bahri and Justice Alok Kumar Verma ordered as follows:

“However, keeping in view that the petitioner has sought his own record, a direction is being given to the respondents to give the record relating to the process and decision making of the empanelment of the petitioner at the level of the Joint Secretary, who took the decision on 15.11.2022.”

The Court clarified that only the records relating to Chaturvedi's empanelment shall be supplied to him.

In his petition, Chaturvedi highlighted the significant contribution made by him when he was appointed to various roles such as Chief Vigilance Officer at AIIMS, New Delhi, and other roles moreover the recognition he received from the Health Ministry and Four Presidential orders passed in his favour during his tenure in Haryana.

The petitioner argued that the decision relating to the empanelment of the officer by the Cabinet should be made public after the decision was taken, and the matter was complete and over by virtue of Section 8(1)(i) of the RTI Act.

This direction of the Court to provide records of the decision-making process of the Officer's Empanelment to the aggrieved officer being one of its first kind is a significant step toward ensuring transparency in the appointing process.

Case Title: Sanjiv Chaturvedi v. Union Of India, WPSB No. 295 of 2024

Click here to read/download the order