Times of
India: Chennai: Saturday, October 05, 2019.
The
Tamil Nadu State Information Commission (TNSIC) has sought a written
explanation from the public information officer (PIO) of the TN Archives for
delay in providing documents on an RTI query.
The
case pertains to an RTI application filed by Y Akbar Ahmed in December 2018 for
the list of wakfs in the state between 1954 and 1980. The PIO replied that he
would provide the information sought, only if proper information is given by
the applicant.
Dissatisfied
with this, the petitioner filed a first appeal with the Archives department.
However, the appellate authority ordered him to pay Rs 158 for 79 pages of the
documents he had sought.
Ahmed
filed a second appeal with the TNSIC, which took it up for hearing on September
16. During the inquiry conducted by commissioner S Muthuraj, Ahmed said he
would not pay the charges as the letter from the PIO was sent after the time
stipulated under the TN RTI (Fees) Rules, 2005.
Shailesh
Gandhi, retired commissioner of the Central Information Commission, said in
such cases, the documents should be given free by the public authority. “The
PIO should also be penalised as the fee to be paid by the RTI applicant should
be intimated by the PIO within 30 days,” he said.