📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Subhashish Panigrahi
National
Court Rules Officers Not Posted During RTI Response Period Cannot Be Penalised for Delay
✍️ Live Law
🗓 11 Oct 2026, 06:02 PM
👁 11
A recent judgment clarified that officers who were not posted in a department during the statutory RTI response window cannot be held liable for delayed information disclosure.
The bench delivering the verdict emphasized that the Right to Information (RTI) Act mandates a response within a specific period only for officers who are in charge of the concerned department at that time.
Accordingly, officials who were transferred or not posted in the department during the response window cannot be penalised for any subsequent delay in providing the requested information.
The ruling seeks to align accountability with actual administrative responsibility, preventing punitive action against officers who had no jurisdiction over the RTI query when it was filed.
Legal experts note that the decision reinforces the principle of fair liability, ensuring that penalties are imposed only on those who had the authority to act within the prescribed timeframe.
The judgment is expected to guide public authorities in handling future RTI requests and in structuring internal transfer policies to avoid similar disputes.
Accordingly, officials who were transferred or not posted in the department during the response window cannot be penalised for any subsequent delay in providing the requested information.
The ruling seeks to align accountability with actual administrative responsibility, preventing punitive action against officers who had no jurisdiction over the RTI query when it was filed.
Legal experts note that the decision reinforces the principle of fair liability, ensuring that penalties are imposed only on those who had the authority to act within the prescribed timeframe.
The judgment is expected to guide public authorities in handling future RTI requests and in structuring internal transfer policies to avoid similar disputes.