DATE WITH RTI

Inspection for exhaustive information

Certified copy of the total budget in Official Expenses and Expenditure in Official Expense, the Inventories of all items, list of the officers posted in Administration Branch and related information was sought by the RTI applicant. The PIO provided part of information sought and informed that the rest of the information is exhaustive and also not readily available with them. The CIC directed the PIO to offer an opportunity of inspection of the relevant and available records as sought for. The CIC further directed that photocopies would be provided to the appellant free of cost upto 50 pages after the inspection.

Comments

As per sub-section 9 of section 7 of the RTI Act, information shall ordinarily be provided in the form in which it is sought unless it would disproportionately divert the resources of the public authority. If the information sought is voluminous, the PIO should take recourse to this provision to request the applicant to inspect the documents.

Citation: Ashok Kumar v. National Commission for Scheduled Castes in File No: CIC/NCFSC/A/2019/138123, Date of Decision: 18/03/2021

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

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