The State Information Commission has directed the State Public Information Officer (SPIO) of the State Crime Records Bureau (SCRB) to explain the delay in giving a reply to an RTI activist in response to an information sought by him.
Chief Information Commissioner Vinson M. Paul has ordered that if no explanation is received within 15 days, the Commission will be constrained to issue penal orders under Section 20(1) of the RTI Act .
List sought
The order was passed on a complaint filed by D.B. Binu, president, RTI Kerala Federation. According to him, he had sought the complete list of all cases in which police personnel were involved, including the name and designation of the police personnel as well as the recommendation of the review committee. He had also sought information on the action taken on the recommendations of the monitoring committee.
A reply was sent by the SPIO saying that the SCRB was exempted from the purview of the RTI Act under section 24(4) of the Act.
Delay in reply
When a petition seeking action against the SPIO for delaying the reply came up, the Commission observed that there was delay in furnishing reply to the complainant, particularly in view of the fact that the reply was to the effect that that the SCRB was exempted from the purview of the RTI Act.
The respondent should not have taken such a long time in furnishing the reply to the complainant.
