High Court Dismisses STELCO Appeal Over Employee Information Request

The High Court has dismissed a case filed by State Electric Company Limited (STELCO) challenging a procedural decision by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICOM) to proceed with a complaint requesting employee information. The case originated from a request made through the 'Maholi' portal by an individual named 'Mohamed Sharhan' seeking details on employees hired and terminated between 17 November 2023 and 3 July 2024, including their positions, salaries and allowances. STELCO initially agreed to provide the information and requested an extension, but failed to deliver the data. The requester then filed a complaint with ICOM. During proceedings at ICOM, STELCO raised a procedural objection, claiming that the name 'Mohamed Sharhan' did not correspond to a real person and therefore the complaint could not proceed. However, ICOM ruled that this was not a valid barrier and later the requester clarified his full name as 'Mohamed Sharhan Waheed'. STELCO then appealed to the High Court seeking to annul ICOM's procedural decision. A three-judge bench comprising Judge Huzaifa Mohamed, Judge Mohamed Shaneez Abdullah and Judge Abdulmaniu Hussain ruled that procedural or interim decisions made during a case cannot be separately appealed under Article 64 of the Right to Information Act. The court stated that such appeals would prolong proceedings and waste time. The High Court also noted that under the Right to Information Act and regulations, if a request has deficiencies, it is the responsibility of the information provider (STELCO) to give the requester an opportunity to correct them. STELCO had initially agreed to provide the information and later raised identity issues, which the court found was not in line with the law. Furthermore, since the requester had clarified their full name during the ICOM stage, the court ruled there was no legal impediment to proceeding with the complaint. The unanimous decision by the bench upheld ICOM's procedural ruling and dismissed STELCO's appeal.