To whom should the first appeal be filed in case of transfer of application?

Background

The appellant filed an application under RTI with the Election Commission of India seeking some information related to the electoral rolls and the enrolment of citizens. The Public Information Officer (PIO) provided some information and transferred the rest of the queries to the District Election Officer. The appellant filed an appeal with the Election Commission claiming that he had not received any information. The First Appellate Authority (FAA) rejected the appeal holding that the appeal should be filed before the FAA in the district concerned. The appellant was not satisfied with the reply and filed an appeal with the CIC.

View of CIC

The respondent submitted that the desired information could be found out only from the district level election authorities and not from the Election Commission of India because the Election Commission only exercised superintendence over the entire electoral machinery throughout the country but does not holds all the related information. The Central Information Commission (CIC) rejected the appeal observing that the holder of the information was the District Election Officer and not the Election Commission of India. The Commission also advised the appellant to pursue the matter with the District Election Officer.

Citation: Shri Madhusoodan Srivastava v. Election Commission of India in File No.CIC/WB/A/2009/000413SM