DRAFT
UTTAR PRADESH RIGHT TO INFORMATION
RULE
S,
2015
In exercise of the powers conferred
by Section 27 of the Right to Information Act, 2005 (22 of
2005) and in supersession of the
Uttar Pradesh State Information Commission (Appeal
Procedure) Rules, 2006,
except in respect of things done or
omitted to be done before such
supersession, the Government of
Uttar Pradesh hereby makes the following Rules:
CHAPTER
-
1
1.
Short title and commencement
(1)
These rules may be called the Uttar
Pradesh Right to Informatio
n Rules, 2015.
(2)
They shall come into force on the
date of their publication in the Official Gazette.
(3)
C
omplaints
and appeal
which have already been filed before
the date of
commencement of the
se
rules and have been found in order
and are already
registered b
efore this date will be proceeded
with a
s before and shall not abate or
be rejected for infirmity there
in but these rules will
be
applicable for any
prospective action even in regard to
such
pending complaints and appeals.
2.
Definitions
In these rul
es, unless the context otherwise
requires
–
(a)
"Act"
means the Right to Information Act,
2005 (22 of 2005);
(b)
“Appellant”
means a person who has filed appeal
under section 19 of the
Act;
(c)
“Authorised Representative”
means a person who is authorized in
writing b
y a
party to a proceeding before the
Commission to represent him in the proceeding;
(d)
“
Chief Information Commissioner”
means the State Chief Information
Commissioner
appointed under section 15(3) of the
Act
and
“Information
Commissioner”
means a State Infor
mation Commissioner
appointed under
section 15(3) of the Act;
(e)
"Commission"
means the U.P. State Information
Commission constituted under
sub
-
secti
on (1) of section 15 of the
Act and includes the Chief I
nformation
Commissioner or an Information
Commissioner
conducting hearing on any
complaint or appeal under the rele
vant provisions of this Ac
t
;
(f)
“Complainant”
means a person who has filed a
complaint before the Commission
under section 18 of the Act;
(g)
"First Appellate
Authority"
means an officer in the public
authority who is senior
in rank to the Public Information
Officer and is so appointed and notified by the
public authority under section 19(1)
of the Act and is authorised to hear the first
appeal against the order passed by
the Public Information Officer.
It includes the
head of the public authority if no
officer of the public authority is appointed and
notified as the First Appellate
Authority;
“Public Information Officer”
means an officer designated and
notified as such by
any public authority under sect
ion 5(1) of the Act and includes an
Assistant Public
Information Officer so designated or
notified under section 5(2) of the Act. It also
includes an officer from whom ass
istance has been
sought under section 5(4) of
the Act or to whom the application
seek
ing information is transferred under
section 6(3) of the Act. It further
includes the head of the public authority in case
no Public Information Officer is
appointed or notified by such public authority;
(i)
“Registrar”
means the Registrar of the
Commission an
d unless the context
otherwise requires includes a Joint
Registrar and a Deputy Registrar;
(j)
“Rules”
means the Rules framed under section
27 of the Act by the Government of
Uttar Pradesh;
(k)
“Secretary”
means the Secretary of the
Commission and unless the cont
ext
otherwise requires includes a Joint
Secretary and Deputy Secretary
;
(l)
Words and expressions used herein
but not defined shall have the meaning
assigned to them in the Act.
CHAPTER
-
2
3.
Rules governing request for
obtaining information
(1)
A person, who desi
res to obtain information under the
Act from any public
authority, shall make a request in
writing or through electronic means to the Public
Information Officer of the public
authority concerned.
The request shall be made
in the format
given in the appendi
x as
Form 1
.
(2)
Any request for obtaining
information under the Act should fulfill the following
condition
s
:
(a)
The i
nformation sought should be
a
part of
the
record
held by or under the
control of
the public authority
concerned
.
(b)
Th
e i
nformation sought should
not:
(i)
involve fresh collection of non
-
available data; or
(ii)
require carrying out new
interpretation or analysis of existing data,
or drawing of inferences, making of
assumptions, or providing
advice or opinion based on existing
data; or
(iii)
involve providing a
nswers to hypothetical questions; or
(iv)
be in terms of answer to the
question ‘why’, seeking justifica
tion for
any action or inaction;
or
(v)
be so vast that the collection
thereof involves disproportionate
diversion of resources of the public
authority concerned
.
The Public Information Officer shall
duly acknowledge the receipt of the request
and shall enter the particulars thereof
in the Application Register maintained for
the purpose in the format given in
the appendix as
Form 2
.
(4)
A request for obtaining infor
mation under the Act shall be
accompanied by the fee
prescribed in the U.P. Right to
Information (Regulation of Fee and Cost) Rules,
2006
.
(5)
If the Public Information Officer
finds that a request made for disclosure of
information relates to another
public
authority or its subject matter is
more closely
related to another public authority,
then such P
ublic Information Officer shall,
within five days from the date of
receipt of the request,
transfer the request or
such part of it as may be
appropriate, to the
other public authority in the format
given in the appendix as
Form 3
.
(6)
The Public Information Officer on
receipt of a request for information shall dispose
off the request in accordance with
the provisions of sections 7, 8 and 9 of the Act.
If the Public
Information Officer is of the view
that the information sought is to be
provided, then he shall convey the
information to the applicant in the format given
in the appendix as
Form 4
. The
date on which
the information is supplied shall be
entered in the Re
gister mentioned in sub
-
rule (2) above.
If the Public Information Officer is
of the view that the information sought can only
be provided on payment of any
further fee representing the cost of providing the
information as prescribed in the
U.P. Right to
Information (Regulation of Fee and
Cost) Rules, 2006, then he shall
send intimation accordingly to the applicant in the
format given in the appendix as
Form 5
and enter the details in the
Register
mentioned in sub
-
rule (2) above.
If the Public Informatio
n Officer is of the view that the
request for information is to
be rejected for any of the reasons
specified in sections 8, 9 or 11 of the Act, then
he shall convey such rejection to
the applicant in the format given in the appendix
as
Form 6
.
The date of
rejection shall be entered in the
Register mentioned in sub
-
rule (2) above.
(7)
Where the Public Information Officer
is of the view that a part of the information
sought cannot be provided as it is
exempted from disclosure, then the Public
Information Officer
may provide the applicant access to
only such part of the
information which is not exempted
from disclosure, and simultaneously give a
notice to the applicant in terms of
section 10(2) of the Act in the format given in
the appendix as
Form 7
.
Where the P
ublic Information Officer intends to
disclose any information on a
request made under the Act, which
relates to or has been supplied by a third party
and has been treated as confidential
by that third party, the Public Information
Officer shall give a writ
ten notice to such third party in
accordance with the
provisions of section 11 of the Act
in the format given in the appendix as
Form 8
.
The Public Information Officer shall
keep in view the submission, if any, of the third
party while taking a decision ab
out disclosure of information.
CHAPTER
-
3
4.
Rules governing registration and
disposal
of
complaints
(1)
Any person may file a complaint with
the Commission in accordance with the
provisions of section 18 of the Act.
(2)
A complaint should be typed, printed
or wri
tten neatly and legibly and should
be
filed in three copie
s.
(3)
A complaint should
be submitted in the format given in
the appendix as
Form 9
and should
contain the following details:
(i)
Name and address of the complainant
(cellphone number and E
-
mail
address
of the complainant, if available,
may also be given).
(ii)
Name and address of the Public
Information Officer against whom the
complaint has been made
.
(iii)
Brief description of the complaint
.
(iv)
Ground(s) of the complaint
(v)
Prayer or relief sought
.
(vi)
Any other information
considered necessary by the
complainant
.
(vii)
A certificate of the complainant
that no complaint
in regard to the same
application under section 6(1) of
the Act
against the same Public
Information Officer was filed by him
earlier
.
(4)
All necessary documents in s
upport of the complaint should be
annexed to the
complaint.
(5)
Every complaint shall be examined by
the Registrar. If the Registrar is of the view
that the complaint is not in
accordance with the provisions of the Act or Rules, he
shall return the complaint
to the complainant, poi
nting out the defect(s) therein,
and enter the details thereof in a
register maintained for the purpose in the format
as given in the appendix as
Form 10
.
If the Registrar is of the view that
the
complaint is in accordance with the
p
rovisions of the Act and Rules, he
shall direct
that the complaint be numbered and
entered in a register maintained for the
purpose in the format as given in
the appendix as
Form 11
.
After a complaint has been
registered, the Registrar shall forward it to
the Chief
Information Commissioner or the
Information Commissioner having jurisdiction
over the matter
.
(7)
The Commission shall issue notices
to the complainant and the Public Information
Officer concerned at least 15 days
before the date fixed for the hear
ing. A copy of
the complaint will also be sent to
the Public Information Officer directing him to
submit his written statement i
n two copies by the date fixed.
(8)
On the date of hearing of the
complaint, a copy of the written statement of the
Public Informat
ion Officer shall be furnished to
the complainant for his submission,
if any. After consideration of the
contents of the complaint, the written statement
of the Public Information Officer
and the submission made by the
parties
at the
hearing, the Commissio
n, if it is satisfied that there are
reasonable grounds to
inquire into the matter, may
initiate an inquiry in respect thereof, such inquiry to
be conducted in accordance with the
provisions of section 18(3) and (4) of the Act
and the Rules. The Commission
may also entrust any such inquiry to
any off
icer of
the Commission. I
f the Commission is of the view that
no reasonable grounds exist
to inquire into the matter, it shall
dismiss the complaint
.
5.
Rules governing
registration and disposal
of
appeals
(1)
Any
person who does not receive a
decision from a Public Information Officer
within the prescribed time, or is
aggrieved by a decision of a Public Information
Officer, as the case may be, may
within the prescribed time, prefer an appeal to
such officer who is
designated as the First Appellate
Authority by the public
authority concerned. The appeal
shall be submitted in the format given in the
appendix as
Form 12
.
The First Appellate Authority shall
dispose off the appeal in
accordance with section 19(1) and (2
) of the Act and Rules.
(2)
Any person aggrieved by an order
passed by the First Appellate Authority or by
non disposal of his appeal
within the prescribed period
by the First Appellate
Authority, may file a second appeal
within the prescribed time to the Com
mission
in the format given in the appendix
as
Form 1
3
.
Such appeal shall be accompanied
by the following documents duly
verified as true copies by the appellant:
(i)
a copy of the request for
information submitted to the Public Information
Officer under sect
ion 6 (1) of the Act;
(ii)
a copy of the reply received, if
any, from the Public Information Officer
;
(iii)
a copy of the appeal made to the
First Appellate Authority under section
19(1) of the Act
;
(iv)
a copy of the order, if any,
received from the First Appellate Auth
ority
;
(v)
copies of other documents relied
upon by the appellant and referred to in
his appeal
;
(vi)
an index of the documents referred
to in the appeal; and
a certificate of the appellant that
no appeal on the same ground(s) against
the same First Appellate Autho
rity was filed by him earlier
.
An appeal to the Commission should
be typed, printed or written neatly and
legibly, and should be filed in
three copies.
(3)
Every appeal filed with the
Commission shall be examined by the Registrar. If the
Registrar is of the
view that the appeal is not in
accordance with the provisions of
the Act or Rules, he shall return
the appeal to the appellant, pointing out the
defect(s) therein
, and enter the details thereof in a
register maintained for the
purpose in the format as give
n in the appendix as
Form 1
0
. If the Registrar is of the
view that the appeal is in
accordance with the provisions of the Act and Rules, he
shall direct that the appeal be
numbered and entered in a register maintained for
the purpose in the format as given
in the appendix as
Form 1
4
.
(4)
After an appeal has been registered,
the Registrar shall forward it to the Chief
Information Commissioner or the
Information Commissioner havin
g jurisdiction
over the matter.
(5)
The Commission shall issue notices
to the
appellan
t,
the Public Information Officer
and the First Appellate Authority
concerned at least 15 days before the date fixed
for the hearing. A copy of the
appeal will also be sent to the Public Information
Officer and the First Appellate
Authority directing them
to submit their written
statements i
n two copies by the date fixed.
(6)
On the date of hearing of the
appeal, a copy each of the written statements of the
Public Information Officer and the
First Appellate Authority shall be furnished to
the appellant for his
submission, if any. After
consideration of the contents of the
appeal, the written statements of
the Public Information Officer and the First
Appellate Authority, and the
submission made by the
parties
at the hearing, the
Commission, if it is satisfied th
at there are reasonable grounds for
consideration of
the appeal, may fix a date for
further hearing in respect thereof, such hearing to
be conducted in accordance with the
provisions of section 19
(3)
of the Act and the
Rules. If the Commission is of the
vi
ew that no reasonable grounds exist
to further
consider the appeal, it shall
dismiss the appeal
.
(7)
The Commission, while hearing an
appeal may
:
(i)
receive oral evidence on oath or on
affidavit from the appellant
;
(ii)
receive oral evidence on oath or on
affidavit
from the Public Information
Officer and / or the First Appellate
Authority
;
(iii)
receive oral evidence on oath or on
affidavit from third party or from any
other person whose evidence is
considered necessary
;
