New Delhi: The Central Information Commission has said the blanket denial of information sought on FCRA renewal applications by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs "appears to be misplaced and without any basis", while observing that the CPIO prima facie "obstructed" the complainant's right to information.
The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) regulates the acceptance and utilisation of foreign contributions by individuals and associations in India. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) administers the law and grants or renews registration for eligible organisations to receive foreign funds, subject to compliance with the Act and applicable rules.
The observations were made by Chief Information Commissioner Raj Kumar Goyal while hearing a complaint filed by an RTI applicant against the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), MHA, over non-receipt of a reply to an RTI application.
The applicant had sought information on organisations that had applied for renewal of their FCRA registration from January 1, 2022, applications for which renewals had been granted, those that were pending along with reasons for the delay and the SOP or other information regarding grant of renewal after queries raised by the FCRA Division (regarding the applications) had been resolved.
The RTI application was filed on October 16, 2024. The complainant approached the Central Information Commission (CIC) on December 5, 2024, alleging that the CPIO had not replied to his application.
The MHA informed the commission that a reply had subsequently been sent on December 24, 2024.
In the reply, the CPIO said the information was exempt under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, which relates to personal information, and advised the applicant to visit the FCRA online portal for application-specific queries.
The CIC, however, said the CPIO had failed to provide a proper point-wise reply in terms of the RTI Act and had invoked Section 8(1)(j) "in a mechanical manner".
"Be that as it may, the fact remains that the CPIO has prime-facie caused an obstruction to the complainant's right to information by failing to reply to the RTI application within the prescribed time period of the RTI Act," the Commission said.
It further observed that "the blanket applicability of the exemption in terms of Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act appears to be misplaced and without any basis".
The Commission also said the CPIO's blanket denial of the information had caused "further obstruction" to the complainant's right to information.
It directed the CPIO to furnish a written response explaining the failure to reply to the RTI application within the prescribed period under Section 7(1) of the RTI Act.
The CPIO was also directed to explain the "blanket denial of the information causing further obstruction to the complainant's right to information".
The CIC's registry has also been directed to schedule a show-cause hearing under Section 20 of the RTI Act.
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