Filing an application to the “concerned” public authority

The Appellant sought information regarding a recruitment rally conducted by the Punjab Regimental Centre, Ramgarh Cantt. Jharkhand from the Cantonment Board, Ramgarh. The Appellant was aggrieved with the fact that the Respondent office did not transfer the RTI Application to the concerned public authority and that CPIO replied on the RTI Application only after expiry of the 30 day time period and two days after First Appeal was filed, and that too for returning the RTI Application. The CIC observed that by his own admission, the Appellant was aware that the information sought pertained to Punjab Regimental Centre, yet he filed the RTI Application with a completely unrelated public authority i.e the Respondent office, Cantonment Board, Ramgarh. The CIC did not find any scope for intervention in the reply of the PIO reply and condoned the delay in replying on the RTI Application while disposing the appeal.

Comments

Section 6(1)(a) of RTI Act provides that the RTI Application should be filed to the concerned public authority. The act put an onus on the applicant to file the application to the concerned authority if he knows who is holding the information. An applicant should not file an application to anyone expecting that he would find the right public authority and would transfer the RTI Application to the relevant public authority under section 6(3).

Citation: Rahul Kumar v. Cantonment Board in File No: CIC/IARMY/A/2018/163631, Date of Decision: 22/07/2020

Dr. Anuradha Verma (dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in) is an expert on RTI matters and has co-authored the books RIGHT TO INFORMATION - LAW AND PRACTICE and PIO’s guide to RTI. Apart from her weekly article here, her other articles can be read at the website of RTI Foundation of India at the link: www.rtifoundationofindia.com