Can a new PIO seek for more time to provide the information under RTI?
15 Feb, 2013Background
The appellant filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) seeking details of all incoming calls originating from all exchanges to his landline number along with the complete details of all non-metered numbers for a particular period. The Public Information Officer (PIO) provided some information.
Proceeding
During the hearing before the Central Information Commission (CIC), the appellant stated that the PIO has not provided the information for complete duration. The PIO submitted that the earlier PIO had provided incomplete information and assured to provide the remaining information. She submitted that the information requested by the appellant is voluminous and hence she would require some more days for compiling it.
View of CIC
The Commission directed the PIO to furnish the correct and complete information to the appellant as sought in the RTI application. The CIC also warned the earlier PIO to exercise due care and ensure that correct and complete information is furnished timely to the RTI applicant(s) as per provisions of the Act failing which penal proceedings under Section 20 may be initiated.
Citation: Mrs. Shakuntala Gupta v. BSNL in File No. CIC/LS/A/2012/000778/BS/1802
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2013/CIC/1049
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission