NEW DELHI: The Central Information Commission has directed All India Radio to show relevant file notings to a petitioner who had sought inspection of files relating to transfer of Indian Broadcasting Programme Service officials between 2001 and 2005.

"The Commission hereby directs hat the relevant files' notings may be shown to the applicant within 15 days of the order," Information Commissioner O.P. Kejariwal said in his order.

Petitioner Pramod Mehta had sought permission from the AIR Director-General to inspect the relevant files under the Right to Information Act.

As the D-G's office failed to respond to the petitioner's request, he approached the First Appellate Authority. In reply to his request, a section officer informed him that he could inspect the files.

However, the same section officer later quoting the Act barred him from inspecting the notings on the files.

Aggrieved by the decision, Mr. Mehta filed an appeal. Though the appeal was decided in his favour allowing him to inspect the files, he was again disallowed from getting the notings on them photocopied.

Finally, the petitioner knocked at the doors of the Central Information Commission.

After hearing both parties and perusing the records made available to it, the Commission took a serious note of the way in which the application was held up by the public authority.

The Chief Public Information Officer (CPIO) as well as the Appellate Authority were nowhere in the picture while the entire matter was dealt with by the section officer, the order noted.

"This is the first ever case that has come to this Bench where both CPIO and the Appellate Authority have not applied their minds at all,'' Mr. Kejariwal said in his order.

Show cause

Observing that the two authorities had failed to discharge their statutory obligations under the Act, the Commission directed the CPIO to show cause why penalties under Section 20 of the Act should not be imposed on him for negligence of his duties under the Act.

The compliance report must reach the Commission within 21 days of the order, the Commission's order said.

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