2012 (8) TMI 918

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....ocates, for the Respondent. ORDER The short question involved in this petition is whether the Central Information Commission or the State Information Commission, as the case may be, has any power to impose penalty other than that prescribed in Section 20 of the Right to Information Act, 2005. 2. To appreciate the rival contention of the parties, it would be appropriate to refer to Se....

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....two hundred and fifty rupees each day till application is received or information is furnished, so however, the total amount of such penalty shall not exceed twenty-five thousand rupees : Provided that the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer, as the case may be, shall be given a reasonable opportunity of being heard before any penalty is imposed on him : ....

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....as also attributed the delay to his holding dual charge of NAC Rajgarh. Keeping in view of these difficulties expressed during oral arguments and the information having been supplied a penalty of Rs. 1,500/- (Rs. fifteen hundred only) is imposed upon the PIO for this delay which should be deposited in the Govt. Treasury under relevant head of account already notified in this regard. PIO is also di....

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....powers the Commission to either reduce or enhance this penalty. If the Commission comes to the conclusion that there are reasonable grounds for delay or that the Public Information Officer (P.I.O.) concerned has satisfactorily explained the delay then no penalty can be imposed. However, once the Commission comes to the conclusion that the penalty has to be imposed then the same must be @ Rs. 250/-....