2009 (6) TMI 30 - AT - Indian Laws

Fee for RTI - appellant had asked for the details of pending appeals in which more than six adjournments have been granted and also about the appeals which have not been decided within 180 days from the date of granting stay - PIO has asked the appellant to pay additional cost of Rs. 6,83,340/- - Held that Considering all aspects of this case and taking into account the fact that two officials have been employed especially for 15 days to collect the required information and taking into account the fact that the Registry has also partly benefited from the exercise - it would be proper to ask the appellant to pay an amount of Rs. 5,000/- towards the cost of collecting and tabulating the supplied information in addition to the usual fees of Rs. 2/- per page of information supplied.

Summary

In the appellate tribunal CESTAT, Kolkata, Dr. Chittaranjan Satapathy, the 1st Appellate Authority and Member (T), CESTAT, heard an appeal from an appellant who requested details of pending appeals with more than six adjournments and those not decided within 180 days of granting stay. The appellant was asked to pay a fee of Rs. 6,83,340 for the information, which he challenged as illegal and violative of the RTI Act and rules. The PIO explained that the information was not readily available and required additional work to compile. The cost of employing staff for this task was estimated at Rs. 17,500. Despite the appellant's arguments, the tribunal found that the cost of collecting and tabulating the information was justified and ordered the appellant to pay Rs. 5,000 in addition to the standard Rs. 2 per page fee. The original demand of Rs. 6,83,340 was modified accordingly, and the appeal was disposed of under these terms.