Upholding the reasons given by the applicant, the appellate authority directed the CPIO to provide additional details with regards to the case.
“As regards contention that the grounds for exemption claimed under section 8(1) (h) are not tenable, CPIO PMO is directed to obtain fresh inputs in this regard and provide the same to the applicant within 15 working days,” Krishan Kumar, Director and Appellate authority had decided.
In the latest response to six-and-a-half month old RTI application, Rizvi said after the appeal decision that the matter was referred to the office for fresh inputs.
“It is informed that third party (Gujarat Government and Modi in the present case) consultation under Section 11(1) of the RTI Act is underway on a similar request and response regarding disclosure of information in this regard will be provided to you after due process as envisaged in section 11 of the Act is completed,” he said.
According to the section 11 of the RTI Act, a notice seeking views of the third party have to be taken with in five days of filing request but CPIO did not issue any such letter within the period.