Advice on section 7 (8) & 7 (9) of RTI ct-2005

[rkgarg2000]

Respected Sir,

I have applied for specific information under RTI act from PIO BSNL. Please give advice or clarify following two points:-

1. I have applied for informaton as a Question to PIO BSNL and he has replied by giving a one page from a book by stating that "“ as per RTI act information will be given in the form existing and available and may not be necessarily recompiled in special format”.
where as under section 7(9) in RTI act an information ordinarily be provided in the form in which it is sought..........record in question.

2. Moreover PIO has not given me address of Appellent authority nor time in which I can appeal required to given under section 7 (8) . Can I approch to CIC directly now.

Please send me reply by mail at $$$$$$$$$$$$$ if possible at the earliest.

Thanking you.

Yours


RAJESH KUMAR GARG

[sidmis]

Dear rkgarg2000,

It is not known what kind of information requested by you. But The contention of the CPIO could be wrong.

From the cpio's reply it appears that the information is available with him but in a different form.

The CPIO has not taken a stand that "it would disproportionately divert the resources of the public authority or would be detrimental to the safety or preservation of the record in question" and at the same time he has not invoked exemption clauses.

So he should have taken steps to supply it or given you an option to seek the same in whichever form it exists. You can certainly raise these in First Appeal.

As a workaround ask him in what form this information is available and also seek personal file inspection (if it is feasible).

[taurus]

Mr. Rajesh,
From your post it appears that the PIO has supplied you the info sought by you, though not in the form of question and answer requested by you, but in the form in which the info was existing with him viz. one page in a book. So there is no denial of info. But if you feel that info is incomplete or misleading etc you may go for first appeal with the FAA. The PIO has failed in his duty to provide you the address of the FAA. This also you may mention in your First Appeal. It is better to go for appeal rather than entering into protracted correspondence with the PIO.

[rajub]

Originally Posted by rkgarg2000

2. Moreover PIO has not given me address of Appellent authority nor time in which I can appeal required to given under section 7 (8) . Can I approch to CIC directly now.

I suggest you file first appeal to an officer under whose administrative control the PIO works.

But better still send it to the PIO with the request to forward it to the appointed FAA. Please make sure your request for forwarding the appeal to the appropriate FAA is included in the body of the FA (better if you make the request before proceeding to write your appeal i.e. just below the name of appellant, FAA etc.)

[sidmis]

For a list of BSNL Appellate Authorities download this page.
You may find the appropriate one.

Right to Information Act - PIOs and APIOs designated in BSNL

[abhi987]

Dear Rajesh,

In your case it would be incorrect to approach the CIC directly.

Please file a First Appeal and mail it to PIO.

Under the title: Reasons/grounds for this appeal:

1) Please go through the section 7 (9) of the RTI Act, 2005. I have quoted below the section for your immediate reference:

"Section 7 (9) An information shall ordinarily be provided in the form in which it is sought unless it would disproportionately divert the resources of the public authority or would be detrimental to the safety or preservation of the record in question."

2) Kindly instruct the PIO to provide me with the information in the form in which it was sought by me.

3) Alternately instruct the PIO to inform me the reason and the relevant section of the Act under which he has denied the information in the form in which it was sought.

Add this paragraph at the end of your appeal.

Since it is the PIO’s responsibility to inform me of the particulars of the appellate authority as per Section 7 (8) (iii), and he has not done so, it is his responsibility to forward it to the First Appellate Authority

[sidmis]

Hello rkgarg2000,

The CIC has expanded the definition of 7(9) like this.

"An information is to be provided in the form in which it is sought or it 'exists'."

There are a no of cases where this issue has been raised and disussed. So if you are not satisfied with information provided by the CPIO then it's better to reframe your queries or seek FILE Inspection.

here is an example of CIC Decsion-

"5. An information should be provided in the form in which it is sought for or it exists. Accordingly, the appellant should seek information as per the provisions of Section 2(f) of the Act, which requires that the required information should be available in any material form. In the instant case, as there is no denial of information, the appellant should seek inspection of the relevant documents so as to identify and specify the information needed by him. The CPIO and the appellant should mutually decide a convenient date and time for inspection of the relevant documents, within 15 days from the date of issue of this decision."

http://cic.gov.in/CIC-Orders/Decision_07032008_02.pdf

[rkgarg2000]

My dear friend:-
PIO has not refused the information but has given me a page which has no clear answer to my question. Morver i would like to add that CPIO BSNL has already given reply of he same to another person and this is in the knowledge of PIO as he has provided the copy of the same to me in reply as it was part of another information asked) but as he is not willing to accept reply by CPIO or give his version for a ruling. So it is intention of PIO to avoid a clear answer to what the concerned person a doing based upon that.

[colnrkurup]

Mr.Garg,
It is futile to divert attention from the main issue. You had asked for certain information. The PIO has furnished you the information as existing with them,. If you consider it as incomplete, you can prefer a first appeal. In case the PIO has not communicated the data stipulated in Section 7(8) of the Act, either appeal to the designated FAA published by BSNL or to the officer senior to the PIO. The prescribed period is one month as given in the Act.

[ooom6]

Morver i would like to add that CPIO BSNL has already given reply of the same to another person

If u ask like this the answer is already in ur knowledge and the appeal may be dismissed .Do'nt add those words.

[VICTOR MECWAN]

As I understand, if you feel that the information you had asked for is not complete,pease ask for the FILE INSPECTION .Thereafter,you can ask a copy of the relevant documents which you desire.