Emergency/VIP Quota Seat Details of PNBE LTT Express

Each train has reserved seats under VIP/Emergency quota. This seat is to be used by any person or VIP or Railway officials only in case of emergency.

To get a seat under the emergency quota, a letter of recommendation issued by a gazetted officer or a concerned VIP has to be submitted before the journey.

An RTI was filed with East Central Railway to obtain such type of data about the PNBE LTT Express which originated from Patna Junction in Bihar and the destination is Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Mumbai.

The point wise details asked in the RTI are :-

The point wise answer of the concerned Central Public Information Officer is given below :-

• Section 8(1)(j)of the RTI act states that "information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest or which cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information".
• Here in point number 1 applicant only asked the number of passengers travelled under VIP/Emergency Quota in PNBE LTT Express.
• But the respected CPIO didn't use his application of mind and considered whole of the sought information exempted under Section8(1)(j)of the RTI Act.
• Aggrieved by the decision of the CPIO, the applicant filed an instant first appeal for point number 1 only. Because the other points related to third party information and cannot be revealed under RTI Act.

The reply given by First Appellate Authority is given below :-

Conclusion

• As per the reply given by First Appellate Authority, total 218 seats in PNBE LTT Express have been utilized under VIP/Emergency Quota in the month of April 2022.
• Out of the total utilized seats, 53 seats are utilized in 2AC, 94 seats in 3AC and 71 seats in Sleeper in one month.
• But under the guise of Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, the railways refused to provide information as to who used this seats. 
• So it is difficult to find out just from the allocation of seats whether these seats have actually been used by those for whom this quota has been created.
• Official RTI request, RTI Reply, First Appeal Request, First Appeal Reply are given below.