RTI Appeal Process and Guidelines

Official
website of Govt. of Assam – Public Information Officers (Union Govt.)
– Public Information Officers (Indian Parliament) – Central Information
Commission (CIC) – Directorate of Information & Public Relations
Govt. Of Assam

RTI
Acts & Rules – RTI User’s Guide
– RTI Acts 2005, FAQ (in Assamese)
– RTI Acts 2005, Main Characteristics
(in Assamese)

Appeal Details

Appeal:
Any person who, does not receive a decision within the time specified in sub-section
(1) or clause (a) of sub-section (3) of section 7, or is aggrieved by a decision of
the State Public Information Officer, may within thirty days from the expiry of
such period or from the receipt of such a decision prefer an appeal to such
officer who is senior in rank to the State Public Information Officer in each
public authority:

Provided that such officer 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.

Where an appeal is preferred against an order made by a State Public Information
Officer,under section 11 to disclose third party information, the appeal by the
concerned third party shall be made within thirty days from the date of the order.

A second appeal against the decision under sub-section (1) shall lie within ninety
days from the date on which the decision should have been made or was actually
received, with the the State Information Commission: Provided that the 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.

If the decision of the State Public Information Officer, against which an appeal is
preferred relates to information of a third party, the State Information Commission,
shall give a reasonable opportunity of being heard to that third party.

In any appeal proceedings, the onus to prove that a denial of a request was
justified shall be on the State Public Information Officer, who denied the request.

An appeal under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) shall be disposed of 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 thereof, as the case
may be, for reasons to be recorded in writing.

The decision of the State Information Commission, as the case may be, shall be
binding.

In its decision, State Information Commission, as the case may be, has the power to

a) require the public authority to take any such steps as may be necessary to secure compliance with the provisions of this Act, including
– by providing access to information, if so requested, in a particular form;
– by appointing a Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer, as the case may be;
– by publishing certain information or categories of information;
– by making necessary changes to its practices in relation to the maintenance, management and destruction of records;
– by enhancing the provision of training on the right to information for its officials;
– by providing it with an annual report in compliance with clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 4;
b) require the public authority to compensate the complainant for any loss or other detriment suffered;
c) impose any of the penalties provided under this Act;
d) reject the application.

The State Information Commission, as the case may be, shall give notice of its
decision, including any right of appeal, to the complainant and the public authority.

The State Information Commission, as the case may be, shall decide the appeal in
accordance with such procedure as may be prescribed.

Penalties:
Where the State Information Commission, at the time of deciding any complaint
or appeal is of the opinion that the State Public Information Officer, has, without
any reasonable cause, refused to receive an application for information or has not
furnished information within the time specified under sub-section (1) of section 7
or malafidely denied the request for information or knowingly given incorrect,
incomplete or misleading information or destroyed information which was the subject
of the request or obstructed in any manner in furnishing the information, it shall
impose a penalty of two hundred and fifty rupees each day till application is
received or information is furnished, so however, the total amount of such penalty
shall not exceed twenty-five thousand rupees:

Provided that the State Public Information Officer, as the case may be, shall be
given a reasonable opportunity of being heard before any penalty is imposed on him:

Provided further that the burden of proving that he acted reasonably and diligently
shall be on the State Public Information Officer.

Where the State Information Commission, at the time of deciding any complaint or
appeal is of the opinion that the State Public Information Officer, has, without any
reasonable cause and persistently, failed to receive an application for information
or has not furnished information within the time specified under sub-section (1) of
section 7 or malafidely denied the request for information or knowingly given
incorrect, incomplete or misleading information or destroyed information which was
the subject of the request or obstructed in any manner in furnishing the information,
it shall recommend for disciplinary action against the Central Public Information
Officer or the State Public Information Officer, as the case may be, under the
service rules applicable to him.