CIC: PIO should provide the copies free of charge not because he had responded beyond the stipulated period but because the demand for the photocopying charges had been made almost towards the fag end of the stipulated period
30 Aug, 2013CIC: PIO should provide the copies free of charge not because he had responded beyond the stipulated period but because the demand for the photocopying charges had been made almost towards the fag end of the stipulated period - if the demand for the photocopying charges is made towards the very end of the stipulated period, it is impossible that the final information could be provided within the period of 30 days which is the timeline fixed in the RTI Act
Order
1. In his RTI application, the Appellant had sought a variety of information about the functioning of the DMC, Nainital such as the details of the officials posted there, the guests who stayed in the guesthouse and the cost of maintenance work undertaken in the guesthouse as well as some information regarding the various LTC entitlements of employees. The CPIO had provided some of this information straight away and had offered some more against payment of photocopying charges. It seems the Appellant did not deposit the photocopying charges on the ground that it was being demanded after the expiry of the stipulated period. He had also appealed against the order of the CPIO. We understand that the Appellate Authority had disposed of the appeal and some further information had been provided consequently.
2. During the hearing, the Appellant insisted that he should be given the information free of charge since the CPIO had responded to him beyond the stipulated period. On the other hand, the CPIO gave a chronological account of how the RTI application had reached him via the Post Office and the headquarters and argued that he had responded well in time and, therefore, the Appellant should deposit the photocopying charges in order to get the information. After carefully considering the facts of the case, we are of the opinion that the CPIO should provide the copies of the records of the relevant information free of charge not because he had responded beyond the stipulated period but because the demand for the photocopying charges had been made almost towards the fag end of the stipulated period. It should be understood that if the demand for the photocopying charges is made towards the very end of the stipulated period, it is impossible that the final information could be provided within the period of 30 days which is the timeline fixed in the Right to Information (RTI) Act. In the light of this, we direct the CPIO to send to the Appellant the copies of the various records sought by him within 10 working days of receiving this order, free of charge.
3. While dealing with this RTI application, one gets the feeling that it is not a serious enquiry for information of any significant public interest. Seeking copies of the guesthouse register or the booking requests from guests for the last two years appears to be an exercise only to cause undue harassment to the CPIO. The right to information should be exercised in a manner that it does not cause dislocation in the normal working of the public authority by diverting its workforce only to the collection of information.
(Satyananda Mishra)
Chief Information Commissioner
Citation: Sh. Vinod Varshney v. Prasar Bharati in File No.CIC/SM/A/2013/000075