P. Jayaseela Rao, a former Senior Observer at the India Meteorological Department's Nellore Observatory, said he was denied salary for 15 months after his kidney transplant. Despite undergoing dialysis and receiving clearance to return to work with a medical certificate, Mr. Rao did not get paid. This forced him toward starvation, he claimed. He also requested documents about his denied salary, unreimbursed medical bills, and the medical certificates from Apollo Hospitals, Chennai, and Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences, Tirupati. His medical bills were reimbursed only after an order by the Central Administrative Tribunal. The IMD's Chief Public Information Officer said Mr. Rao's records were not available. Mr. Rao filed an appeal at the Central Information Commission (CIC), calling the IMD's reply "incomplete, false, and misleading." The CPIO replied that the case was over 28 years old and records were untraceable. The CIC’s Information Commissioner Kushwant Singh Sethi found the department did not explain its data retention policy. He directed the CPIO to verify records with the Chennai Branch and provide a revised reply under the Right to Information Act, based on availability. If records remain unavailable, the official must file an affidavit stating so along with the data retention policy. This case highlights challenges in keeping and tracking long-old government records and protecting employee rights.