It was evident in the instant case that the PIO was determined not to follow the law and the directions of a statutory authority. It appeared that the PIO had no reasonable cause to offer for refusing to obey the directions of the Commission for providing the information. The PIO had not referred to any of the exemption clauses of Section 8(1) of RTI Act which was a codification of the fundamental right of the citizens where it specifies that denial of information can only be based on the exemption clauses of Section 8(1) of the RTI Act. The Commission therefore decided that Mr. Pawan Kumar Bhatia, Manager and PIO has no reasonable cause for refusing to give information. Since the delay has been for over 100 days the Commission imposes the maximum penalty of Rs. 25000/- leviable under Section 20(1) of the RTI Act 2005.
