Frequently Asked Questions and Answers

PIO cannot reject an RTI application stating that it is not typewritten. Sec 6(1) of the Act specially provides for application to be submitted 'in writing' and not necessarily in a typed form.

The PIO is required to take a decision about giving or not giving information only if the application is complete in all respects. An application is complete only if it has all contact details about the applicant and the nature of the information requested along with proof of payment of application fees or proof of BPL identity for claiming fee waiver. An APIO may forward only complete applications to the PIO. If the applicant has submitted an incomplete application, it is the duty of the PIO or the APIO, as the case may be, to request the applicant to complete the application in all respects to facilitate the commencement of processing of the information request by the PIO.

It is important for the Government to prepare detailed guidance notes for PIOs and FAAs explaining each of the exemptions in section 8 and giving practical examples to assist them to apply these exemptions properly.State Government and Information Commission should also be involved in the process. Nevertheless, it is not possible to provide guidelines on exemptions applicable to all situations. It is important for Information Commissions and the Courts to publish their judgments to provide additional guidance to officials and the public which will become part of the developing case law on RTI. International experience supports the production of an 'annotated Act' incorporating the explanatory and interpretative portions of judgments explaining every provision. In Canada and Queensland, Australia for example, their information access case law is uploaded on-line and every provision therein has links to relevant judgments. The citizens can also refer the website of Kerala SIC, GoI and High Courts for similar cases, now that the Act has been in existence for more than 15 years.