Frustrated RTI Appellants, use this FORMAT for LEGAL NOTICE on Information Commissioners

RTI applicants and appellants are frustrated by the soft approach of Information Commissioners towards public authorities and public information officers (PIOs). Throughout the country, it is observed that Central and State Information Commissioners have this strange behavior pattern:

1) To begin with, they uphold the second appeal or complaint, and write orders instructing the PIO and public authority to provide the requested information within X number of days.

2) However, when the PIO and public authority ignore the Information Commissioner’s directions and fail to give the required information, the CICs and SICs take no further action. The appellant gets tired of writing complaint letters to the Information Commissioner.

3) The CICs and SICs steadfastly refuse to penalize the PIO, or accept flimsy and unsubstantiated excuses (such as “files are lost”) to condone the PIO and waive penalties. This is done under the guise of exercising their “discretionary powers”.

4) Also, the CICs and SICs do not use their discretionary powers under Section 19(8)(b) to direct the public authority to compensate the appellant. The appellant, who is often a senior citizen or an underprivileged, distressed person, is forced to give up his quest for information and lose faith in the RTI Act.

5) In this way, the CICs and SICs effectively defeat the intent of the RTI Act. Despite recording in their orders that the request for information is legitimate, and that the information has been illegitimately denied, they leave the RTI applicant/appellant high and dry, giving him neither information, nor compensation, nor the comfort of knowing that action has been taken against the PIO as per Section 20.

Fed up with such incorrigible behavior by Central Information Commission in many appeals filed by him and his aged father, Mumbai-based activist Girish Mittal recently served a legal notice on Central Information Commission. He is now seriously considering going to court within a few weeks with a writ petition, under advice from Delhi-based advocate Rasheed Qureshi. Read Girish’s legal notice.

In this, he is supported by case law viz. a well-reasoned order by Delhi High Court which clearly states that CIC has no discretionary power to waive penalty. Read this landmark High Court order. (The order has been analyzed by rtiindia.org, and important parts are highlighted.)

We have prepared a ready format for use by RTI activists and appellants. It may be used to issue legal notice to State and Central Information Commissioners deny information and justice to appellants by the above-mentioned methods. Replace the red text with your details and engage your local advocate to serve the notice on his letterhead. Download legal notice format . 

After serving the legal notice on your Information Commissioner, await a response from his office for a month or two. If no appropriate response emerges after this, then you may consider approaching the High Court with a writ petition. The acknowledgement copy of the legal notice will enable you to establish that you have exhausted your remedies before moving the court. This legal notice will itself assist you in drafting a short but effective writ petition, as all the relevant arguments are contained in it. All the Best!