Filing Appeal or Complaint under RTI Act

 Article

Filing Appeal or Complaint under RTI Act

The Right to Information Act, 2005 provides that the applicants who fail to receive information within the prescribed period or are not satisfied with the reply given by the Public Information Officer get opportunity for filing appeal at two levels. The first appeal can be filed within the concerned public authority/ organization. The public authorities are empowered to appoint the first Appellate Authority within the organisation.

The second appeal can be filed before the Central or State Information Commission as the case may be. The Central and State governments have set up their respective Commissions, as per provisions of section 12 and 15 of the Act, respectively.

The second appeal in respect of public authorities of the Union territories can be filed before the Central Information Commission, as the UTs are not empowered to set up such Commissions.

Filing of first Appeal: The Act stipulates that any person who, does not receive a decision within the specified time or is aggrieved by a decision of the Public Information Officer can prefer first appeal. The first appeal may be preferred to such officer who is senior in rank to the Public Information Officer and is designated as the first Appellate Authority by the public authority. [Section 19(1)]

Time frame for filing first Appeal (30 days): The first appeal may be preferred within thirty days from the expiry of date on which the information was to be received or from the receipt of such a decision. 

However, the first Appellate Authority may admit the appeal after the expiry of the period of thirty days, if he or she is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal in time.

Fee for filing appeals:  There is no fee for filing appeals before the Central Information Commission. Most of the States too have exempted fee in appeal cases. However, some of the states like Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa and Sikkim have fixed some fees for filing appeal in their respective states, which will have to be paid.    

Appeal by Third Party: The third party too has been given right to file appeal. The third party may file an appeal against an order made by a Public Information Officer to disclose his information. Such an appeal may be filed by the concerned third party, within thirty days from the date of the order. [Section 19(2)]

Time for Disposal of first Appeal (30-45 days): A time frame for disposal of first appeals has been prescribed for the first Appellate Authority. He shall dispose of the first appeal within thirty days of the receipt of the appeal or within such extended period not exceeding a total of forty-five days from the date of filing. [Section 19(6)]

The Central Information Commission has passed strictures against some of the first appellate authorities in delay cases.

Second Appeal: In case the applicant is aggrieved by the decision of the first Appellate Authority then he can file second appeal with the Commission. A second appeal against the decision of the first Appellate Authority shall lie to the Central or State Information Commission as the case may be. [Section 19(3)]


Prefer first appeal before coming to CIC: An applicant can prefer second appeal only after filing the first appeal.

Time frame for filing Second Appeal: The Act provides that the second appeal shall lie within ninety days from the date on which the decision should have been made by the first Appellate Authority or was actually received. [Section 19(3)]

However the Central or State Information Commission may admit the appeal after the expiry of the period of ninety days, if it is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal in time. [Proviso to Section 19(3)]

Reasonable opportunity to Third Party: If the decision of the Public Information Officer against which an appeal is preferred relates to information of a third party, the concerned Commission shall give a reasonable opportunity of being heard to that third party. [Section 19(4)]

Onus to prove: The onus to prove that denial of a request was justified shall be on the Public Information Officer who denied the request. [Section 19(5)]

As the onus to prove rests upon the Public Information Officers they should take judicious decisions in all such cases and pass speaking orders. However, they enjoy protection for anything done in good faith, under section 21 of the Act.

Procedure for filing appeal before the Commission.— The Right to Information Rules, 2012 as notified on 31st July, 2012 provides that a  person aggrieved by an order passed by the first Appellate Authority or by non-disposal of his appeal by the first Appellate Authority, may file an appeal to the Commission in the format given in the Appendix.

 The appeal shall be accompanied by the following documents, duly authenticated and verified by the appellant, namely:

 

  • a copy of the application submitted to the Central Public Information Officer; a copy of the reply received, if any, from the Central 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.

 

Return of Appeal: An appeal may be returned to the appellant, if it is not accompanied by the documents, for removing the deficiencies and filing the appeal complete in all respects.

 

Process of appeal: On receipt of an appeal, if the Commission is not satisfied that it is a fit case to proceed with, it may, after giving an opportunity of being heard to the appellant and after recording its reasons, dismiss the appeal:

 

However, no appeal shall be dismissed only on the ground that it has not been made in the specified format if it is accompanied by requisite documents.

 

 

FORMAT OF APPEAL (See Rule 8)

 

  1. Name and address or the appellant
  2. Name and address of the Central Public Information Officer to whom the application was addressed
  3. Name and address of the Central Public Information Officer who gave reply to the Application
  4. Name and address of the First Appellate Authority Who decided the First Appeal
  5. Particulars of the application
  6. Particulars of the order(s) including number, if any, against which the appeal is preferred
  7. Brief facts leading to the appeal
  8. Prayer or relief sought
  9. Grounds for the prayer or relief
  10. Any other information relevant to the appeal
  11. Verification/authentication by the appellant

 

Complaint to Information Commission: The Central/ State Information Commission have been empowered to receive and inquire into a complaint from any person:

  • who has been unable to submit a request to a Public Information Officer either by reason that no such officer has been appointed under this Act;
  • because the Assistant Public Information Officer has refused to accept his or her application for information or appeal under this Act for forwarding the same to the Public Information Officer or Appellate Authority;
  • who has been refused access to any information requested under this Act;
  • who has not been given a response to a request for information or access to information within the time limit specified under this Act;
  • who has been required to pay an amount of fee which he or she considers unreasonable;
  • who believes that he or she has been given incomplete, misleading or false information under this Act; and
  • where the Central/ State Information Commission is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to inquire into the matter, it may initiate an inquiry in respect thereof.

Such complaints are, however, forwarded by the Commission to the concerned authorities for their response or disposal as per requirement.

FAQs

Q. 1. Is there any time frame fixed for disposal of second appeal?

Ans.1. No, not yet.

Q. 2.  Can an applicant file complaint to the Commission, without going in for first appeal?

Ans.2. Yes.
Location: India

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