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TMI Blog2018 (9) TMI 264X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n 19. If the legislative intent, as can be made out on a combined reading of various provisions are taken note of, it would be seen that the legislature only proposes for taking action against CPIO, and not against any other authority like the Appellate Authority or officer to whom the appeal lies. The CPIO being custodian of the information or the documents sought for, is primarily responsible under the scheme of the RTI Act to supply the information and in case of default or dereliction on his part, the penal action is to be invoked against him only. The Appellate Authority is not the custodian of the information or the document. It is only a statutory authority to take a decision on an appeal with regard the tenability or otherwise o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... copies thereof. Aggrieved by the same, the appellant preferred an appeal under the RTI Act and the Appellate Authority did not interfere in the matter. At the instance of the appellant, however, further appeal was filed before the Central Information Commission (CIC), who decided the matter in favour of the appellant and directed for furnishing certified copies of the information and also recommended for taking disciplinary action against the Appellate Authority. Challenging this order of the CIC, writ petition was filed by the Union of India. In the writ petition it was their case that under Section 20(2) of the RTI Act, the CIC has no power to recommend for disciplinary action and the writ petition having been allowed by the writ Court, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he Union of India pointed out that once the CPIO has been defined in the Act to mean the person who is to give the information at the first instance and when an appeal is provided to a senior officer in case of non-disclosure of information by the CPIO, contention of the appellant that the senior ranking officer, that is, the Appellate Authority would also be a CPIO cannot be accepted. He further argued that the intention of the legislature in making the CPIO liable for punishment by penal provision and recommendation for departmental inquiry is because of the fact that he is the custodian of the information and the document and he is responsible for supply of information and if it is found that he has not supplied the information in accord ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer, as the case may be, shall be given a reasonable opportunity of being heard before any penalty is imposed on him: Provided further that the burden of proving that he acted reasonably and diligently shall be on the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer, as the case may be. (2) Where the Central Information Commission or the State Information Commission, as the case may be, at the time of deciding any complaint or appeal is of the opinion that the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer, as the case may be, has, without any reasonable cause and persistently, failed to receive an applicati ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... mation Officer, as the case may be, may within thirty days from the expiry of such period or from the receipt of such a decision prefer an appeal to such officer who is senior in rank to the Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer as the case may be, in each public authority: Provided that such officer may admit the appeal after the expiry of the period of thirty days if he or she is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal in time. 9. From the above, it is clear that Section 19(1) makes a provision for filing of an appeal if a person is aggrieved by a decision or inaction of the CPIO. The Appellate Authority in sub-section (1) of Section 19 is classifie ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nlarge the scope of the penal provisions under Section 20. That apart, the CPIO being custodian of the information or the documents sought for, is primarily responsible under the scheme of the RTI Act to supply the information and in case of default or dereliction on his part, the penal action is to be invoked against him only. The Appellate Authority is not the custodian of the information or the document. It is only a statutory authority to take a decision on an appeal with regard the tenability or otherwise of the action of the CPIO and, therefore, there is a conscious omission in making the Appellate Authority liable for a penal action under Section 20 of the RTI Act and if that be the scheme of the Act and the legislative intention, we ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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