Important Decisions of Central Information Commission - Reg
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RTI Matter . ., \Ah,&. INDIAN COUNCIL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH KRISHI BHAVAN : NEW DELHI No. F. - Dated : November 03 ,2010 To The Directors1 Appellate of all ICAR All Appellate at ICAR Hqrs. : Important Decisions of Central Information Commission - reg. I am to draw your kind attention that Institute of Secretariat Training Management (ISTM), Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances Pensions, Government of India has compiled a book on "Important Decisions of Central Information Commission". The aforesaid book has been uploaded at under Right to Information Act with the heading "RTI - Important Decisions of CIC" for information and guidance of all concerned. Apart from the above, it may be observed that on the of Central Information Commission (CIC) at decisions of CIC in various appeals under Right to Information Act are available. It is requested that the officers dealing with the implementation of the RTI Act may be advised to to the decisions of the CIC on regular basis so as to enable them to deal with the requests received for seeking information under the RTI Act efficiently and in the right perspective. Yours faithfully, ( SANJAY ) DIRECTOR (ADMN.) Tel. 011-23384774 Copy for information to: 1. All ICAR. 2. PSO to Secretary (DARE) DG, ICAW PPS to Secretary, ICAW PS to SA to Chairman, ASRB. 3. ICAR. 4. 5. All Sections at ICAR Hqrs. at NASC Complex. !" ! # $ N &&' '()* P ! " #" Q % &'(' COMPILATION TEAM Direction: Dr. Khwaja M. Shahid, Director, ISTM Compilation: Sh. Mahabir S. Kasana, Joint Director, ISTM Sh. Apendu Ganguly, Deputy Director, ISTM Sh. K. Govindarajulu, Deputy Director, ISTM Support Staff: Smt. R. Mahalakshmi, PA Sh. Jitendra Bharti, PA While all efforts have been made to make this compilation as accurate and as elaborate as possible, the information given in this book is for reference and must not be taken as binding in any way. This compilation is intended to provide guidance to the readers. It cannot be a substitute for the Act and the rules made there under. Compiled by Institute of Secretariat Training & Management, Old JNU Campus, New Delhi – 110 067, Under Centrally Sponsored Plan Scheme - “Strengthening, Capacity Building and Awareness Generation for Effective Implementation of RTI Act” of Department of Personnel and Training, Government of India. For comments and suggestions please contact compilation team at ISTM, Tel 011- 26177058, 26185316, 26180589. email: [email protected], [email protected] Institute of Secretariat Training and Management (ISTM) Department of Personnel and Training ______________________________________________________________________ The Institute of Secretariat Training and Management (ISTM), Department of Personnel and Training, Government of India is a multi-disciplinary organisation specializing in capacity building, consultancy and research support particularly for the Central Secretariat, Government of India. It was established in 1948 and is committed to the ideal of "Efficiency and the Public Good". ISTM's main concern is to help develop the professional competence of officers to promote good governance. Focus areas of training by ISTM are Good Governance, Right to Information, Personnel Administration, Office Management, Financial Management, Management Development & Services, Information- Communication Technology, Behavioural Techniques and Training of Trainers. ISTM has been conducting International Training Programmes for participants from Afro-Asian Countries sponsored by Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India under ITEC / SCAAP schemes, WHO and GTZ. ISTM has also been associated in various consultancy assignments under DFID funded projects for capacity building for poverty reduction programme sponsored by ARP&G, GOI. Capacity building for implementation of Right to Information in India has been one of the ISTM's high priority areas. We have conducted over 200 workshops on RTI covering around 5000 participants from wide spectrum of more than 350 organisations and have developed vast faculty and training material resource on the RTI domain. In November 2009 ISTM has organised an international Training programme on Right to Information for Asia region commonwealth countries, sponsored by commonwealth secretariat London. ISTM has also been involved in various activities undertaken by Government of India under capacity building for access to information (A GOI- UNDP Initiative). ISTM has faculty strength of 29 experienced training professionals drawn from government and a panel of eminent guest faculty from Universities, NGOs and professional experts. It has a learning resource centre of more than 16000 books besides a video collection and two state of art computer labs. The Institute has built up a rich reservoir of training material on various Government functioning. It also has a hostel to accommodate outstation participants. To learn more, please visit: www.istm.gov.in Frivolous requests Non-Govt. Org. substantially financed 22 23 Publishing facts relating to policies or 27 27 - 28 29 - 30 30 - 32 33 - 34 35 36 - 37 37 - 38 38 - 39 39 - 40 40 - 41 41 - 43 44 44 44 44 45 - 46 46 - 49 50 50 Transfer of application 50 50 50 - 51 51 51 51 51 - 54 54 55 - 61 61 - 64 64 - 65 65 - 67 68 - 72 73 - 76 76 - 80 80 - 84 85 85 86 - 87 87 - 90 90 - 91 91 - 93 94 94 - 95 95 96 96 - 98 99 - 100 100 100 - 101 101 - 102 102 - 103 103 104 - 105 105 - 106 106 107 107 - 109 109 110 111 111 - 112 112 113 113 123 - 124 Exempted Organisations The Second Schedule as amended 152 - 162 Appendix (i) RTI (Regulation of fee and Cost) Rules, 163 - 169 2005 with amendments (ii) Web Site Resoureses 170 - 171 Introduction to the Compilation The enactment of the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) is a historic event in the annals of democracy in India. Information is power and now a citizen has the right to access information "held by or under control of" the public authorities. Concurrently, it is the duty of all public authorities to provide information sought by citizens. A sea change can be achieved towards transparency and accountability in governance by implementing the Act in letter and spirit. The Act mandates a legal-institutional framework for setting out the practical regime of right to information for every citizen to secure access to information under the control of public authorities. It prescribes mandatory disclosure of certain information to citizens, and designation of Public Information Officers ("PIOs") and Assistant Public Information Officers ("APIOs") in all public authorities to attend to requests from citizens for information within stipulated time limits. It provides for appeal against the decisions of PIOs to an Appellate Authority within the Public Authority, who is an officer senior in rank to Public Information Officers. It also mandates the constitution of a Central Information Commission (CIC) and State Information Commissions (SICs) to inquire into complaints, hear second appeals, and guide implementation of the Act. CIC Website (www.cic.gov.in) has uploaded all their decisions till date, including full bench decisions of the Commission. Available decisions explain and elaborate various provisions of the RTI Act and provide valuable guidelines to the public authorities, first appellate authorities and public information officers to discharge their mandated functions. Institute of Secretariat Training and Management (ISTM), New Delhi is involved in capacity building initiatives of Department of Personnel and Training, Government of India since 2005 and has organised around 200 training programmes till March 2010 covering over 350 organisations. ISTM has also carried out studies on training requirements and conducted audit of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) supported 'Capacity Building for Access to Information' (CBAI) Project of proactive disclosures of various ministries of Central Government under the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Ministry of Personnel, Government of India. The training programmes organised by ISTM includes Training of Trainers on RTI ( who in turn would conduct training programmes at their organisations / Institutes), Records Management for RTI, Process re-engineering for RTI and workshops for various other stakeholders to guide smooth implementation of the Act and undertaking other advocacy and dissemination activities. As part of the centrally sponsored plan scheme of Department of Personnel and Training - "Strengthening, Capacity Building and Awareness Generation for Effective Implementation of RTI Act", ISTM is publishing this compilation of important CIC decisions for use by various stakeholders including public authorities (APIOs, PIOs and Appellate Authorities), Civil Society and Citizen groups as comprehensive guidelines for effective implementation of the Act. Chapter 1 of the compilation provides the Scope & Ambit of Right to Information Act and Chapter 2 highlights the CIC pronouncements on the same. Chapter 3 presents an over view of Records management and Suo- motu Publications. Chapter 4 discuss the CIC decisions thereon. Chapter 5 discusses Appointment of Public Information Officers (PIO) and Assistant PIOs and their role. Chapter 6 provides CIC decisions on appointment of PIOs, Assistant PIOs and their responsibilities. Chapter 7 provides the procedure for handling RTI request and Chapter 8 gives insight into the CIC interpretations of provisions in sections 6 & 7 of the Act. Chapter 9 discusses exemptions