By Aryan Bhat
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Q. How To Appeal Against The Denial of Request?
The RTI Act also provides an opportunity to file an appeal by the appellant if no reply is received from the Public Information Officer within the specified time period or if such a request is explicitly rejected. The appeal shall be filed within thirty days from the expiry of such period or date of rejection to an officer senior in rank to the Public Information Officer. This officer is known as the Appellant Authority.
An appeal may be entertained after the expiry of thirty days only if the officer is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal in time.
An appeal shall contain the grounds on the basis of which it is sought against the Public Information Officer and also the brief facts which compelled the citizen to file an appeal before the Appellate Authority.
An appeal shall be disposed of within thirty days of the receipt of such request by the Appellate Authority. If an appeal was admitted by the Appellate Authority after expiry of 30 days of the stipulated period, the appeal shall then be disposed of within 45 days from the date of filing. In the appeal proceedings, opportunity shall be given to the PIO to present his case for dismissal of the citizen’s request.
There is no standard format for filing an appeal before the Appellant Authority but it is recommended that one follows the model format prescribed by the Government. The model format prescribed by the Government of Delhi can be found here.
If the appellant is aggrieved by the reply of the Appellate Authority, a second appeal can be filed against the order before the Central Information Commission( in case of Central Government) or State Information Commission( in case of State Government)
The second appeal shall be filed within 90 days of the date on which the decision was actually received before the appropriate Information Commission. The Commission may, however choose to entertain a request made after the expiry of the period of 90 days if convinced that the appellant was prevented by a sufficient cause from filing the appeal in time.
The second appeal shall also disposed of within thirty days of the receipt of such appeal by the Commission. If an appeal was admitted after expiry of 30 days of the stipulated period, the appeal shall then be disposed of within 45 days from the date of filing. In the appeal proceedings, opportunity shall be given to the PIO to present his case for dismissal of the citizen’s request.
An appeal to the Information Commission shall be made in the prescribed format. However, not following the prescribed format shall not a valid ground for dismissing the appeal. The following documents shall be attached along with the appeal, duly authenticated and verified by the appellant:
- a copy of the application submitted to the Public Information Officer
- a copy of the reply received, if any, from the Public Information Officer
- a copy of the appeal made to the First Appellate Authority
- a copy of the Order received, if any, from the First Appellate Authority
- copies of other documents relied upon by the appellant and referred to in his appeal and
- an index of the documents referred to in the appeal.
If the appeal submitted to the Central Information Commission is however, deficient of any of the aforementioned documents, the appeal shall then be returned to the appellant for filing the appeal which is complete in all aspects, instead of dismissing the appeal.
The appeal filed shall include the following details:
- Name and address or the appellant
- Name and address of the Central Public Information Officer to whom the application was addressed
- Name and address of the Central Public Information Officer who gave reply to the Application
- Name and address of the First Appellate Authority Who decided the First Appeal
- Particulars of the application
- Particulars of the order(s) including number, if any, against which the appeal is preferred
- Brief facts leading to the appeal
- Prayer or relief sought
- Grounds for the prayer or relief
- Any other information relevant to the appeal
- Verification/authentication by the appellant
Obligations of Public Authorities Under the Act
Under this Act, all public authorities shall:
• Maintain all its records catalogued and indexed in such a way that it facilitates one’s right to information and ensure that all records which can be computerized shall be so computerized and connected to a network all over the country on every system to allow easy access to the information
• Publish all relevant facts while formulating any policy or announcing decisions which affect the public at large
• Notify reasons for any administrative or quasi-judicial decision taken to the general public
• Every public authority shall also make public the following details:
I. Particulars of the organization, functions and duties
II. Powers and duties of its employees
III. Directory of its officers and employees
IV. Procedure followed in decision-making process, including channels of supervision and accountability
V. The monthly remuneration received by each of its officers and employees, including the system of compensation as provided in its regulations;
VI. The budget allocated to each of its agency, indicating the particulars of all plans, proposed expenditures and reports on disbursements made
VII. The manner of execution of subsidy programmes, including the amounts allocated and the details of beneficiaries of such programmes particulars of recipients of concessions, permits or authorisations granted by it
VIII. The particulars of facilities available to citizens for obtaining information, including the working hours of a library or reading room, if maintained for public use
IX. The names, designations and other particulars of the Public Information Officers
X. A statement of the categories of documents that are held by it or under its control
XI. The particulars of any arrangement that exists for consultation with, or representation by, the members of the public in relation to the formulation of its policy or implementation thereof
XII. The names, designations and other particulars of the Public Information Officers
XIII. A statement of the boards, councils, committees and other bodies consisting of two or more persons constituted as its part or for the purpose of its advice, and as to whether meetings of those boards, councils, committees and other bodies are open to the public, or the minutes of such meetings are accessible for public
• All information shall be disseminated to the public, taking into consideration the cost effectiveness, local language and the most effective method of communication in the concerned area and the information should be available as possible in the electronic format with the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer, as the case may be.
• Every Public Authority shall designate Public Information Officers, in each administrative unit and office, as many as would be necessary to provide the information under this Act.
• The duty of every Public Information Officer is to deal with requests for information made by any person and provide reasonable assistance to the person seeking such information.
Q. When Can A Public Authority Not Share any Information With the Citizen?
A public authority is ordinarily bound to provide the information that the citizen asks for. However, any disclosure of information can be denied on any of the following grounds:
• Information, disclosure of which may affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, economic or scientific interests of India or foreign relations with other countries or may cause incitement of any offence
• Information, which is expressly forbidden to be published by any court or tribunal or whose disclosure may cause contempt of court
• Information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information
• Information sought would involve a copyright infringement of a person other than the State
• Information whose disclosure would cause a breach of privilege of Parliament or any State Legislature
• Information, the disclosure of which would endanger the life or physical safety of any person or identify the source of information or assistance given in confidence for law enforcement or security purposes
• Information which would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders
• Information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would 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
• Information received in confidence from foreign Government
• Information available to a person in his fiduciary relationship, unless the competent authority is satisfied that the larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information.
Back to Part 1 of this article (an introduction, what authorities are covered and not covered, and how to ask for information under the Act).
For the full Right to Information 2005 Act, click here.
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Aryan Bhat is a 2nd year law student at National Law University Delhi. A Potterhead, his other favourite authors in fiction include Khalid Hosseini, Jhumpa Lahiri and Ruta Septys. Besides fiction, he enjoys to read about political and social issues too. He plays chess as a leisure activity. While he is willing to explore any area of law, he finds himself particularly drawn towards Intellectual Property, Corporate Law and Criminal Law.
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