Seeking clarification in rti reply

Hello learned members of the bar.

When information provided by the Public Information Officer or the  First Appellate Authority is evasive, is it possible to seek clarification / explanation from the same PIO / FAA ?. Or is it mandatory to approach the Information Commission ?.

Kindly provide if there is any judgement which holds that in case of incomplete /  evasive information, the public information officer or the first appellate authority as the case may be should clarify the same. 

Thank you.

Clarification / interpretation of Act and Rules does not covered under RTI Act,2005. It is not information  in the  ambit of section 2(f) of RTI act.  See the definition of information under RTI Act 2005, section 2(f)

1.  RTI Act is limited to "public documents" held by the Govt. dept., as on date of RTI Application.

2. Questions /Answers /Justifications /Clarifications /Reasonings are NOT classified as "public documents", hence cannot be sought.  However you are entitled to complain against the PIO u/s 18 r/w 19 of the Act .OR. file second appeal before the SIC /CIC.

Keep Smiling .... Hemant Agarwal
VISIT: www.chshelpforum.com

Yes , point number one is the summarised definition of "INFORMATION" as per RTI Act.

Thank you learned members. But by clarification i didn't mean explanation. The information which is sought for is very short and straightforward and the officer instead of giving the information has given the copy of a document and asks me to get the information from that. He could have given the reply in one line, but cunningly hesitant to give the information himself in writing.

Now my query is, for such evasive reply, is it possible to send a letter seeking clear, complete and direct information which i need, when the information sought is not voluminous and its just single line?. I am ready to approach the information commission, but I feel like if I can seek further reply from the appellate authority himself, there will be no necessity for me to approach the commission. That's why.

Hope I made it clear. Thank you,

Sir, for your information , CPIO should not create information or draw inference or give  reply to query.  CPIO only can provide you the documents in his Custody. Documents may be existed in  soft copy or in hard copies in his Custody. CPIO just like a librarian of information. Hope it is clear now.

Ok sir. Thank you.

You can file another RTI application. The application should be worded that you are seeking information only, not clarification to the information already provided.

Originally posted by : P. Venu
	You can file another RTI application. The application should be worded that you are seeking information only, not clarification to the information already provided.

Thank you so much sir. I am ready to file another RTI, but this time the query is going to be with respect to the evasive reply given by the Appellate Authority. I mean I have to cite the reply given by the Appellate authority in the RTI application. In this case, is the PIO liable to answer ?

File another RTI Application and seek Inspection of such documents and find out yourselves from such documents.  If you want precise guidance, you have to post the query, CPIO reply and FAA orders deleting names.  Go for second appeal

Grounds for appeal:  CPIO has not provided correct, complete and relevant information, the reply apparently appears as evasive, hence the second appeal.

Prayer:: Appellant prays for directions to CPIO for providing correct, complete and relevant information as expeditiously as possible free of cost.