[HumJanenge] A lesson for Orissa Information Commission from CIC, New Delhi

A lesson for Orissa Information Commission- Order of Shailesh Gandhi CIC that there is no need  to exhaust appeal process under Section 19(1) before approaching Information Commission

Dear friends,
On 1st July ,2011, hearing a complaint case ( Complaint case No.- CIC/SM/C/2011/000117/SG, Decision No.- CIC/SM/C/2011/000117/SG/13230),  the Central Information Commissioner has passed an order mentioning  that " CIC can hear direct Complaints and there is no need to exhaust 19(1) before approaching the commission". It means that the aggrieved citizens can directly approach the Information Commission through making complaints under Section 18 of the Act without following appeal procedure mentioned under Section 19(1) of RTI Act 2005.. The RTI Act has in fact made two separate provisions i.e. direct Complaint before Commission under Section-18 and two-stage appeal process under Section-19 to redress the grievances of the RTI applicants. The Act has left the choice to the aggrieved applicants themselves to follow either of the provisions to get their grievances redressed. Thus the above order of Mr.Shailesh Gandhi which is very much in line with the letter and spirit of RTI Act has further clarified the position of law and hopefully shall serve to remove all ambiguities afflicting those Commissioners who remand the complaint cases to the 1st appellate officers without hearing them themselves.
 
It is worthwhile to mention here that in recent months we came across a number of decisions of Orissa Information Commission ( for instance, C.C. Nos. 1310/2010, 1195/10, 1368/10 and 1347/10)  where the Commission without hearing the complaint cases has disposed and closed them arbitrarily and illegally by remanding them to respective 1st appellate officers with a direction to the latter for hearing and providing the necessary information. And the experience has shown that adding to the woes of the concerned complainants, neither the 1st Appellate Authorities cared to hear the cases or provide the information as directed by the Commission. As a result the Complainants were found to be frustrated and hopeless to get any justice from the office of the Commission, which is the highest appellate authority under the RTI Act. Besides, during the hearing of the cases the Commission is also asking the complainants to come through 1st appeal, which is clearly ultra vires the parent Act.

Now that Mr.Shailesh Gandhi Central Information Commissioner has clarified the position of law on the right of every aggrieved RTI applicant to approach the Commission directly for getting his grievance redressed, the Orissa Information Commission ought to amend its arbitrary and illegal manner of closing the complaint cases by way of remanding them to the 1st appellate officers and start the direct hearing of complaint cases submitted to them by the aggrieved applicants under Section 18 of RTI Act.

 

Pradip Pradhan

M-99378-43482

Date-6.7.2011