In the current case, the Appellant filed an RTI Application on 30th December 2018 requesting the public authority to provide certain documents. Heeralal Samariya, Information Commissioner will decide the Second Appeal filed by the Appellant.
Facts
The Appellant filed an RTI Application on 30th December 2018 requesting the public authority to provide certain documents. The CPIO didn’t provide any information. The Appellant was dissatisfied so he filed the First Appeal on 24th February 2019. The First Appellate Authority made its order on 28th March 2019. In the order, the FAA directed the CPIO to provide the necessary information to the Appellant.
The CPIO followed the FAA’s order and provided the information on 18th April 2019. The Appellant wasn’t satisfied with the information as she believed that it wasn’t relevant to the RTI application that she had filed. So, the Appellant filed for a Second Appeal and it was received by the Central Information Commission on 11th June 2019.
Arguments Advanced
Both parties, the Appellant and the Respondent, were present on phone. The Appellant stated that she was disappointed with the CPIO for not providing her with the necessary information. The Appellant stated that she had inspected the information that the CPIO gave her and she found out that it was copies of incorrect documents.
Mr Ashok Kumar, PIO, Section Officer represented the Respondent’s side. The PIO stated that because of the difficulties he had to face due to the pandemic, he was not able to find the relevant documents which had the information sought by the Appellant. The PIO further added that he does not have any written submissions and would follow whatever order that is deemed fit by the CIC.
Court Observations
The Central Information Commission (CIC) had expressed immense displeasure towards the PIO for their negligent behaviour. The CIC had also referred to Section 20 of the RTI Act 2005 in order to determine whether action needs to be taken against the PIO.
Decision
The CIC stated that the PIO must provide one more chance to the Appellant to inspect the relevant information which she had sought in the RTI application. The date and time for the same will be provided by the Appellant both telephonically and in writing. The PIO needs to provide copies of relevant documents to the Appellant and it should be free of cost up to ten pages. The PIO need not provide any information which does not come under the provisions of the RTI Act, 2005.
The CIC’s order must be followed within 30 days after the normalization of the current situation. This appeal had been disposed of.
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