Seeking action taken report on a complaint under RTI

The appellant sought the details of the action taken and the details of the person responsible for the delay in disposing off his complaint. He also wanted to know about the time of completion of his work. The Public Information Officer (PIO) supplied partial information and informed that the matter was under consideration and requested the appellant to be specific in the query as the sought information was vague. However, the First Appellate Authority (FAA) directed the PIO to provide the requisite information within 15 days.

Proceedings

The Central Information Commission (CIC) noted that the PIO did not give any information about the action taken against the complaint of the appellant and even after the order of the FAA, the PIO sent a letter to the appellant stating that he was filing a complaint. The Commission held that the PIO’s action attracts the penal provisions of Section 20 (1) and hence a show cause notice was issued to him to give reasons why penalty should not be levied on him.

View of CIC

The PIO stated that the matter was under process and hence he could not provide the information. The Commission held that the PIO was not able to provide any reasonable cause for not providing the information within 15 days after receiving the order of the FAA. As per the provisions of Section 20 (1) RTI Act 2005, the Commission levied a penalty of Rs. 8,500/- on the PIO for the delay of 44 days in providing the information.

Comments

If action is pending on a complaint, it is appropriate to inform the status to the applicant rather than keeping the matter to oneself.

Citation: Mr. Mahesh kumar v. Municipal Corporation of Delhi in Decision No. CIC/SG/A/2012/000898/18810Penalty