The Central Information Commission has directed the Delhi Jal Board to post details of assets of all its employees on its website to comply with the proactive disclosure statute of the Right to Information Act.

The orders came on the plea of an RTI applicant Ram Kumar Gupta, who sought to know the details of assets of a junior engineer M C Yadav among other information about him.

The application was referred to Yadav seeking his nod for the disclosure of information about him. Yadav refused to give approval for making public his assets saying it would be invasion of his privacy.

Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi rejected the plea advanced by Yadav and said disclosure of information such as details of assets of a public servant -- which is routinely collected by the public authority and routinely provided by the public servants -- cannot be construed as an intrusion into the privacy of an individual.

"The Supreme Court has clearly ruled that even people who aspire to be public servants by getting elected have to declare their property details. If people who aspire to be public servants must declare their property details it is only logical that the details of assets of those who are public servants must be considered to be disclosable," Gandhi said.

He said objections of the third party M C Yadav are not sustainable as the state routinely obtains information from citizens. "This information is in relationship to a public activity and will not be an intrusion in privacy."

"The Commission has noticed that a number of people are seeking information on the assets of the public servants.

Since these assets would have to be disclosed, the Commission under its powers under Section 19(8)(a) directs the PIO of DJB to display this information on the website of the public authority so that there will be no requirement of filing RTI application in such matters by applicants," he said.

Gandhi directed the Delhi Jal Board to comply with the order before December 15. "This is in fulfilment of the public authority's obligation under Section-4 of the RTI Act."