What can citizens expect from petitions to the president of India?
23 Sep, 2012Background
The appellant wanted to know about the action taken on a petition filed to the president of India. The Public Information Officer (PIO) informed that the same had been forwarded to the State government of Bihar since the subject matter of the petition concerned that government and that any further enquiry about the petition should be made with the said State government.
View of CIC
The Central Information Commission (CIC) observed that the President’s Secretariat had taken no other action on the petition except forwarding it to the State government of Bihar and that is what the CPIO had informed. The Respondents clarified that it would not be possible for them to say if any action had been taken by the Bihar government on the above petition. Holding that as no other action had been taken, the Commission agreed there is nothing more the PIO can say in this matter and advised the Appellant to approach the State government of Bihar.
The Commission held that if all that the President Secretariat can do is only to forward petitions received from citizens to various authorities without any further follow up action; it should clearly announce to the citizens about their limitations and not create hope which it cannot fulfil. The Commission added that such announcements, from time to time, would educate the citizens about what to expect when they send any petition or complaint to the President of India.
Citation: Mr. Ratnesh Kumar Pathak v. President’s Secretariat in File No.CIC/SM/A/2011/001780
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2012/CIC/664
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission