RTI appellate remedy is limited to information officer decisions; Commission complaints proceed separately under complaint jurisdiction.

The appellate remedy under the Right to Information Act, 2005 is confined to decisions of the State Public Information Officer under Section 19(1), while proceedings before the State Information Commission on a complaint fall under Section 18 and are distinct from a first appeal. The Commission's complaint jurisdiction is part of its statutory duty to inquire into non-compliance and may include penalty proceedings under Section 20. On the stated facts, the matter before the Commission was a complaint, not an appeal from the information officer, and the first appellate authority had not been approached; accordingly, Section 19(1) did not provide an appeal against the Commission's order in those circumstances.

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Issues: Whether an appeal lies under Section 19(1) of the Right to Information Act, 2005 against an order of the State Information Commission, and whether the writ petition was wrongly rejected on that basis.

Analysis: The statutory scheme of the Right to Information Act, 2005 distinguishes between a request to the State Public Information Officer, the first appeal before the designated appellate authority, and a complaint to the State Information Commission under Section 18. A first appeal under Section 19(1) is available from a decision of the State Public Information Officer, while a complaint under Section 18 is within the Commission's duty to inquire into. The Act also recognises that the Commission may act on complaints and impose penalty under Section 20. On the facts, the proceeding before the Commission was a complaint, not an appeal from the State Public Information Officer, and the complainant had not approached the designated first appellate authority.

Conclusion: No appeal lay under Section 19(1) against the State Information Commission's order in the circumstances of the case. The rejection of the writ petition on the footing that such an appeal was available was erroneous, and the appeal was allowed.

Ratio Decidendi: The appellate remedy under Section 19(1) of the Right to Information Act, 2005 is confined to decisions of the State Public Information Officer, whereas complaints before the State Information Commission proceed under Section 18 and are not to be treated as such appeals.

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