In an order dated December 20, Justice CV Karthikeyan said that while civil servants’ service registers may contain personal information, authorities cannot refuse to make public all information contained in such registers.
Civil servants, the Court said, live in the public eye and cannot prevent other citizens from requesting details of their service records.
“The service record of the civil servant would contain details of the date of entry into service, transfers undergone by the person, allowances granted, earned leave availed and also whether any penalties were imposed during service. service period. These details, in particular the date of joining and the date of reaching retirement age, are certainly not private information. Once again, the assets and debts are not private. If penalties were imposed due to various circumstances, they could be described as private to a certain extent, because disclosure would stigmatize the official. But once an individual accepts to work in the public service, he must accept that he lives in the public eye and cannot avoid the general public seeking details, at least as far as their service is concerned.” said the Supreme Court.