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Soumyadeep Biswas   13 March 2025

No reply on rti application

Dear Members,

 

I am from Kolkata and I reside in a housing complex in the suburbs of Kolkata.

Back in June of 2024, I had sent a complaint to the Competent Authority ( appointed by West Bengal Govt as per The West Bengal Apartment Owner Act 1972 ), regarding the illegal activities being carried on by the Association of the housing complex . Since I did not receive any reply from the Competent Authority, about the action taken, even after a period of 30-32 days, I sent a reminder letter regarding the action taken by the Competent Authority. Again after getting no reply after a period of 30-32 days, I sent a second reminder letter . And I still got no reply.

 

After that I sought information regarding the status of my complaint and action taken, under the RTI Act 2005 . The State Public Information Officer did not reply to the RTI application within the prescribed period of 30 days, however on the 36th or 37th day, I got a reply from the SPIO, regarding my complaint, and the reply was “ Only recorded information is provided” . The reply was very confusing and I was not at all satisfied with the information provided . Hence I applied to the Appellate Authority regarding the information . As on today, more than 30 days have lapsed and I was not given any information.

 

Now, I will be applying to the State Information Commission about the “No Reply” situation of my RTI application. My question is how to proceed further if I don't get any information even from the State Information Commission .

 

Thanks for reading my post and any suggestion or advice you may provide.

 

 

Regards .



 2 Replies

P. Venu (Advocate)     13 March 2025

The second appeal could be made after 90 days as provided under Section 19(3) -

(3) A second appeal against the decision under sub-section (1) shall lie within ninety days from the date on which the decision should have been made or was actually received, with the Central Information Commission or the State Information Commission:


Provided that the Central Information Commission or the State Information Commission, as the case may be, may admit the appeal after the expiry of the period of ninety days if it is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal in time

T. Kalaiselvan, Advocate (Advocate)     13 March 2025

If a second appeal under the RTI Act is also not answered properly, you can file a complaint with the Central Information Commission (CIC) or the State Information Commission (SIC) depending on the public authority involved, highlighting the shortcomings and seeking redressal. 

The second appeal must be filed within 90 days from the date of the First Appellate Authority's decision or the date the decision should have been made. 

If the CIC or SIC fails to address your second appeal adequately, you can file a complaint with the same commission, highlighting the issues and seeking a resolution. 

The commission can take action against the PIO for any shortcomings and can also impose penalties or require compensation for any loss or detriment suffered.


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