Madhya Pradesh State Information Commission imposes ₹25,000 penalty on PIO for refusing to accept RTI application sent by post

The Madhya Pradesh State Information Commission recently imposed a penalty of ₹25,000 on a Public Information Officer (PIO) for refusing to accept an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. [Munnalal Patel v. PIO].Information Commissioner Rahul Singh took a poor view of the practice of refusing to accept RTI applications at government offices. He pointed out that by denying applications, PIOs can avoid accountability for denial of information since the application is not even received in their office.The Commission emphasized how, under Section 6 of the RTI Act, all citizens have the right to file RTI applications and refusal by PIO to accept them violates the provision..The PIO, a school principal, had refused to accept the appellant's RTI application filed by registered post. Aggrieved, the he filed his first appeal with the district education officer before moving the Madhya Pradesh State Information Commission.While hearing the appeal, Commissioner Singh recommended that the case be handled as a complaint rather than an appeal, because an appeal needs the application to be received at the PIO's office. He clarified that, instead of filing a first appeal, the applicant may file a complaint with the Commission under Section 18 of the RTI Act if the PIO refuses to accept the RTI application..The PIO denied refusing to accept the post and stated he was unaware of who refused it on his behalf. Noting that accountability had to be fixed in turning down the application, the Commission said that the PIO could not escape it by merely saying that he did not return the post, especially when it was addressed to him and the postman's note read that the recipient refused to accept it.As the Principal failed to provide any evidence in his favour, the Commission levied a penalty of ₹25,000 on him.It stated that the PIO must reveal who was responsible for returning the post and take appropriate punishment against such guilty official under the service conduct rules, or else refusal to receive RTI applications will become the norm in government offices..[Read order]