Language of reply

[swapnil]

I reside in Mumbai and sought information from Collector, Gulbarga, Karnataka. He has replied in Kannada which I don't understand, naturally this tantamounts to denying access to information . can I seek this information In Hindi or English? If yes, please qoute relevant provision of act.
Swapnil

[ganpat1956]

Mr Edmar, one of our members initially encountered the same problem and expressed in his thread Replies not given in English or Hindi but only in Kannada. We have had extensive discussions on this. Mr Manoj Pai had then suggested to write to the PA and seek an English version of the reply to the RTI application.

Subsequently in the thread How to write an RTI Application?, I had suggested the following to obviate this problem.

If you are applying to a state government Pio , and if you do not understand the local language (believe me; it has happened to one of our members--Mr. Edmar), it will be ideal to specify in your application that you want the information in English. Otherwise chances are that you will end up with a reply in a local language and you won't even know if what you got was information or denial, unless somebody helps you out with translation.

Friends, with the active contribution of various members during the last one year, our portal has become a rich repository of useful information for all RTI activists. Please make full use of the search facility in the main menu, whenever you need a clarfication on any matter connected with RTI . Invariably you are bound to end up with a gold mine of info.

[chanda_s]

but is it mandatory on the part of the PIO to furnish the information in english if asked to?

what if the applicant asks to provide information in oriya or bengali?

having served in four different states, i know that most state govts function in local languages. even officials like tehsildars and patwaris cant write or correctly understand english. in fact they are not bound to know english. when they happen to be PIOs invariably one has problems. i have seen first hand as to how PIOs of some state govts find it difficult to understand queries written in english. an please believe me when i say this, even in some district level offices of some states one would find it difficult to get hold of one single employee who can correctly understand some complicated RTI queries.

the problem is genuine both from the point of view of the citizen and also the PIO . yes, may be an officer of the rank municipal commissioner should be able to give a reply in english but for lesser officers who actually matter, like the patwari or tehsildar it is a genuine problem.

[karira]

Section 6 is very clear about the language in the application:

A person, who desires to obtain any information under this Act, shall make a request in writing or through electronic means in English or Hindi or in the official language of the area in which the application is being made,

Further Sections 26 (2) and Section 4 (4) talk about "official language" and "local language".

The Act is totally silent on the language to be used in the reply.

Logically, the application should be answered in the same language it was written in, provided it is either Hindi, English or the "local language".

(By the way, in replies other than RTI , what is the procedure followed ? In which language are the replies given in the normal correspondance ?)

Swapnil, the best would be to write back to the Collector informing him that you do not know/understand kannada and requesting him to give his reply in English or Hindi.

[karira]

Here is a PIO doing his work really dilligently as far as language of reply is concerned:

The application of Shri Inderjit Singh received in the PIO office on 11.10.2006 was forwarded to ED (Land) on 13.10.2006 under Section 5(4) AND 5(5) OF THE Act to provide the information as soon as possible.
As a follow up action, ED (Land) was reminded to expedite the information on 27.10.2006 ED (Land) provided the information in English on 10.11.2006. As the request of the applicant was in Hindi, the undersigned felt that furnishing the information in English will be a violation of the Raj Bhasa Act and keeping in view of the public interest with a view to provide the information in the language sought by the applicant, the Hindi Directorate was requested to translate in Hindi on 14.11.2006 (11th and 12th of November 2006 being holidays). It may be mentioned here that though in AAI most of the correspondence and notings are done in English, correspondence in Hindi is must for letters received in Hindi.
However, the Hindi Directorate took 08 days in translating the information in Hindi (i.e. hand written translation received on 22.110.2006 evening).
To avoid the delay, the reply was furnished to the applicant in English on 27.11.2006 (25th and 26th November 2006 being holidays) alongwith intimation to applicant that Hindi version will follow shortly. Efforts were also made by the undersigned to get it typed in Hindi with the help of concerned department i.e. ED (Land) and finally the reply in Hindi was sent to the applicant on 15/20.12.2006…….The undersigned wanted to send a messenger to convey that AAI is in the process of
sending reply but could not do so because the contact address given by the applicant was demolished.

From: http://cic.gov.in/CIC-Orders/Decision_18092007_16.pdf