APPLYING THE LAW

Handling Appeals:
Special issues - Burden of Proof

Section 19(5) of the Central Act specifically places the burden of proving that non-disclosure was justified on to the person who denied the request, ie. the official.

This is an extremely important provision when conducting appeals because in practice it means that an appeal does not automatically require a hearing between the two parties, but requires the appellate body to speak to the Public Information Officer and ask them to explain their decision.

The public will not actually need to interact with the appellate body - the Appellate Authority or Information Commission - until after the official has been questioned, and even then, only if the appellate body thinks the official has a good point. At that point, the complainant can make their case - but even then, they could do so by phone or in writing or a member of staff could be sent to interview the complainant at that point or the public authority could even pay for the complainant to attend the office of the appellate body.

Please click on the link to the Central RTI Act to read the detailed provisions contained in the law. Please click on the link to CHRI's State RTI pages to find out more about relevant rules and implementation in your specific State.