M K TYAGI Vs. K L AHUJA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Petitioner, a "whistle blower" who exposed the acts of corruption of his superior officer, is aggrieved by the unreasonable delay on the part of the Central Vigilance Commission ("CVC") in providing him relevant information pursuant to an application made under the Right to Information Act, 2005 ("RTI Act").

(2.) The background to the present petition is that the Petitioner while working as the Chief Sales Manager in the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. ("IOCL") made a complaint on 8th December 1999 against the corrupt practices of the General Manager who was his superior. The Petitioner alleges that the General Manager by way of reprisal got the Petitioner transferred from Mumbai to Bangalore on 9th May 2000 as Chief Manager (LNG Marketing). On 15th May 2000, the Petitioner wrote to the CVC about the above development and asked for "appropriate action in a court of law against the corrupt officers" of IOCL including his superior.

(3.) It is stated that the CVC forwarded the Petitioner's complaint to the Central Vigilance Officer ("CVO") IOCL who in turn forwarded it to Manager (Vigilance), Southern Region on 12th August 2000. However, even before the CVO could begin investigations, a departmental inquiry was initiated against the Petitioner on the charge of making of false allegations against his superior officer. On 21st September 2000, the Manager (Vigilance) gave a report that the allegations made by the Petitioner were false. This was followed by a charge sheet being served on the Petitioner on 19th October 2000. In the above circumstances, the Petitioner again wrote to the CVC on 1st November 2000 complaining that he was being harassed for having exposed the corrupt actions of his superior officer. The CVC then wrote to the Chairman, IOCL on 15th December 2000 advising him to ensure that the Petitioner was not harassed or put to any disadvantage. The CVC advised that further proceedings in the charge sheet against the Petitioner should be kept in abeyance till the first stage advice was given by the CVC after investigating the Petitioner's complaint.