Why is the colour of snow changing in Himalayas?
17 Mar, 2013Background
The appellant filed the application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) seeking the reasons for the change in colour of snow in the Himalayas as per some report in India TV. The Public Information Officer (PIO) informed him that they had no information on the subject and they did not know which other public authority would have any such information.
View of CIC
The Commission observed that just because there is some report in a TV channel, the PIO of any public authority including the PMO is not bound to know about that subject. The Commission held that the appellant should remember that information is defined in the Right to Information (RTI) Act as material record. The CIC rejected the appeal stating that the PIO is not expected to validate all and sundry reports aired by various TV channels or newspapers.
Comments
While making the gist of the cases, appeals such as these, provides the comic element to our team at RTI Foundation of India.
Citation: Shri Vidhyadhar Pandey v Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Environment & Forest in File No. CIC/SM/A/2012/001530
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2013/CIC/1127
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission