The office of the Advocate General, Himachal Pradesh has been directed by the Himachal Pradesh Information Commission to redesignate the
PIO and the Appellate Authority as per the provision of the
RTI Act. The details of the case are that and application filed for information under
RTI with the
PIO in the o/o of the Advocate General, Himachal Pradesh. The Deputy Advocate General, Himachal Pradesh was acting as
PIO. The requisite information was not supplied with the specified time of 30 days. Therefore, the applicant decided to file first appeal. But he was surprised to find out that the other Deputy Advocate General was designated as AA. Sine the AA should be senior in rank to the
PIO, therefore, designating other officer of the same rank as AA was not sustainable as per the provisions of the Act. Therefore, the applicant instead of filing first appeal with the AA directly filed appeal with the
SIC and also challenged the designation of the D.A.G as AA. The
SIC in its order dated 17.08.2007 in appeal No. 46/2007-08 upheld the view of the applicant and not only directed to redesignate the
PIO and the AA, but also directed the office of Advocate General to provide the requisite information within a period of 15 days. The
SIC further directed the PA to refund the amount deposited by the applicant for obtaining the information.
Now, the biggest point is that when thehighest law knowing office (o/o Advocate General) is not able to interpret the law properly, what will be the position of other P.A.s