All India Chess Federation claims pests destroyed records in response to query under RTI Act

The All India Chess Federation (AICF) has claimed that records pertaining to a Right to Information (RTI) Act query by a player were destroyed by pests at its headquarters here, leading to a rebuke from the Central Information Commission.

Responding to a query under the RTI Act seeking information on various issues by FIDE Master (FM) Gurpreet Pal Singh, the AICF claimed the records had been destroyed by pests.

“Initially, they denied information stating that the case is pending in Madras High Court. Then they said records have been destroyed by pests and finally they denied it under section 8 (1)(d), (e), (j) of the act,” Singh told PTI.

“The commission did not agree with this and ordered them to provide information and admonished them for trying to misguide the commission and changing their stand,” he added.

He further said that “the AICF had earlier told the Competition Commission of India (CCI) that its records were destroyed by the floods in Chennai in 2015”.

At a hearing at the CIC office, the AICF’s Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) had submitted that the requisite information pertains to the Chennai office and apprised the bench that the relevant records have been destroyed/damaged by pests.

“Upon being queried by the Commission whether he has any proof for the same, he could not provide a cogent reply,” the CIC order notes.

Meanwhile, the CIC ordered AICF to provide the details sought by Singh.

Earlier in 2019, Singh had sought information from AICF with regard to year-wise expenditure incurred by AICF in a case filed by them against the CCI’s order before the Madras High Court, apart from various other issues.