MINISTER OF THE STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PARLIAMENTRY AFFARIRS;
MINISTER OF THE STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCE AND PENSIONS AND
MINISTER OF THE STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PRIME MINISTER`S OFFICE (SHRI V. NARAYANASAMY)
(a) to (f): A statement is laid on the table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 288 by SHRI YASHBANT
N.S. LAGURI AND DR. MAHENDRASINH P. CHAUHAN for 16.03.2011 REGARDING ‘DENIAL OF INFORMATION’
(a): As per Right to Information Act, 2005, if information sought is not supplied in time, the applicant may
file a complaint to the Information Commission concerned under Section 18(1) of the Act, who is authorized to
conduct an inquiry into the issue. The Act also provides that if information is not supplied within time or
if the applicant is aggrieved by a decision of the Public Information Officer (PIO), an appeal may be filed
before the Departmental Appellate Authority. In such cases, second appeal may be made to the Information
Commission, if the applicant is not satisfied with the decision of the Departmental Appellate Authority.
As such, Information Commission is the final authority for adjudicating or conducting an inquiry relating
to cases where information is not supplied or information is not supplied within the specified time.
(b): The status of filing and disposal of complaints and appeals by the Central Information Commission
in the last three years is given below:-
Year Receipt Disposal
2007-08 11,261 7,722
2008-09 15,426 13,322
2009-10 22,800 19,482
(c): Information is not centrally maintained.
(d) & (e): Section 20(1) of the Act, provides for imposition of a penalty on the Public Information Officer
in the following cases:-
(i) Refusal to receive application for information or not furnishing information within the time specified,
without any reasonable cause;
(ii) Malafidely denying the request for information;
(iii) Knowingly giving incorrect, incomplete or misleading information;
(iv) Destroying information which was the subject of the request or obstructing in any manner in furnishing
the information.
The Central Information Commission imposed penalty in 54 cases in 2007-08; 227 cases in 2008-09; 98 cases
in 2009-10; and 238 cases in 2010-11 (till 08.02.2011). These include the cases where the information was
not supplied in time.
(f): The Central Government has requested all the Ministries/Departments to, inter alia, maintain all its
records duly catalogued and indexed and also to issue necessary instructions to public authorities under
them in this regard.
