Times
of India: Chandigarh: Friday, September 14, 2018.
State information commission, Punjab, has
declared document writers as public authority and directed them to provide
required information to an appellant.
Advocate Shyam Singh from Nabha town of Patiala
district had sought information under the Right of Information (RTI) Act but
the document writer concerned had refused the same on the ground that document
writers are not in the ambit of RTI Act. The appellant filed a complaint
against a public information officer in the state information commission, which
issued directions that the information sought be supplied in 15 days but the
document writer concerned refused to do so, stating that they do not fall in
the ambit of the RTI Act.
Disposing of the appeal, state information
commissioner ordered the licensing authority/registering authority to obtain
the information from the document writer concerned and provide the same to the
appellant after giving a chance to the third party to raise any objections. If
there is no objection from the third party and the PIO is convinced that the
information sought is not in line with one of the exemptions under Section 8
(1) of Section 9 of the RTI Act, the admissible information can be disclosed.
The commission also ordered that in case the
document writer refuses to share the information, then disciplinary proceedings
against him be initiated under Sections 15 and 16 of the Punjab Document
Writers Licensing Rules, 1961.
.JPG)
.JPG)
