RTI Applicant Has No Role In Penalty Proceedings Against Officer: Delhi HC

In a recently pronounced Judgement Delhi HC maintained that RTI applicant has no role in penalty proceeding against Public Information Officer for denying or providing incorrect information.

“The formation of opinion under Section 20(2) of the RTI Act (regarding the imposition of penalties) is in the exercise of supervisory powers of CIC and not in the exercise of the adjudicatory powers. This Court is also of the view that the information seeker has no locus standi in penalty proceedings under Section 20 of the RTI Act,” observed a bench presided over by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan.

Judge Tushar Rao Gedela was also a member of the bench. The appeal was filed in response to a decision made by a single-judge bench that had rejected the appellant’s request for penalties to be imposed on the relevant officials for providing inaccurate responses to his Right to Information (RTI) Act application.

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The appellant’s plea was denied by the single-judge bench, which stated that departmental action had been taken against the incompetent officials in accordance with the relevant service rules and that he had already been given accurate information.

In person, the appellant argued that in addition to giving the incorrect response, there had been an excessive three-year wait in supplying the proper information.

The split bench decided that the Central Information Commission (CIC) had every right to exercise its discretion and refrain from imposing a monetary fine, particularly in cases when the appellant had been ordered to give the requested information.