Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 12: Disposing of an RTI application before High Court of J&K for seeking to know the number of PSA cases from 1988 to December 2014, the State Information Commissioner, G R Sofi has granted more time to the respondent for providing required information to the appellant.
Even as the CIC, in his decision, refused to issue any direction to PIO Jammu wing, who had stated that such information was not available and not existent in the records on the date of filing of RTI, the PIO Srinagar was directed to ensure that information is given to the appellant within reasonable time.
The appellant was also allowed to take further action under Section 15 of the J&K RTI Act, 2009, if he was convinced that said information was available with the PIO and had been deliberately denied to him.
The appellant, Abdul Mana Bukhari had filed an RTI application seeking details of total number of cases in which PSA was quashed by the High Court of J&K. The number was sought particularly in the cases of women and minors.
However, the PIO Jammu informed that no such information was available in the form of any data in the Jammu wing of HC while the PIO Srinagar wing had intimated the records in the Record Room got damaged during the period of floods in September 2014. The PIO Srinagar had further informed the appellant that efforts were being made to locate and retrieve the record, which would take time.
Not satisfied over the response of PIOs, the Appellant filed two separate first appeals before Registrar General cum FAA, High Court J&K, who did not respond thus driving the information seeker to approach the Commission. As the information was pertaining to both Jammu and Srinagar wing of the High Court, two separate appeals were filed in the Commission by the appellant.
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