Second appeal to the CIC — form, fee and filing (2026)

The second appeal is where an RTI case stops being correspondence and becomes a case number with a bench. Two mistakes lose more second appeals than any PIO ever has: filing late without asking for condonation, and filing an appeal whose documents do not match the Commission's registration checklist. Both are avoidable, and the Commission publishes the checklist itself.

The Commission's second-appeal guidelines, built on rules 8 and 9 of the Right to Information Rules, 2012, require:

• The appeal, duly signed, addressed to the Commission
• A copy of the RTI application as filed
• A copy of the CPIO reply (where received)
• A copy of the first appeal and, where it exists, the FAA order — and where no reply came to the first appeal, proof of when it was filed
• Copies of other documents relied upon and referred to in the appeal
• An index of the documents
• All documents legible, and in Hindi or English — or with a translation
• All documents duly authenticated and verified by the appellant

Note what is *not* on the list: a notarised affidavit, stamp paper, court fees. Formats circulating with those requirements were never part of the 2012 Rules, and no appellant should pay for them. The verification the rules demand is your own statement that the documents are true copies.

The 90 days run from the date you actually received the FAA order — or, where the FAA never replied, from the expiry of 45 days after your first appeal was filed. Miss the window and the Commission can still admit the appeal if sufficient cause for the delay is shown, so plead the cause briefly and honestly at the top of the appeal rather than hoping no one counts.

• Online — the filing module linked from cic.gov.in (dsscic.nic.in) captures the appeal, the documents and the registration details, and issues a number at once
• By post — paper appeals go to the Commission with the same document set, signed and indexed

Order your grounds as a bench reads: the information asked, the refusal and its stated section, why the section does not cover it — with a precedent where you have one — and the relief you want. Under rule 12 you must get at least seven clear days' notice of the hearing, and rule 10(3) fixes when you are deemed to have exhausted the first appeal.

Real example. Kashvi Pathak's appeal was returned once — her first appeal and the FAA order were in the wrong order in the index. Re-filed the same week with a one-page index listing each document and its date, it registered, and the bench allowed the disclosure at the first hearing, reading from that index.

• Build the first appeal properly: First Appeal Generator
• Check your dates: Timeline Tracker
• Draft any RTI: AI RTI Drafter

No. The RTI Rules, 2012 prescribe no fee for a second appeal.

No. The rules ask for documents authenticated and verified by you; notarisation is not required.

The 90 days run from the expiry of 45 days after you filed the first appeal; attach proof of that filing date.

No — state public authorities go to the State Information Commission. Delhi is the exception in practice, with appeals to the CIC.

Yes, on sufficient cause shown for the delay — state the cause in the appeal itself.

• All RTI forms + downloads
• Second appeal — CIC or SIC, the route for your case
• RTI fee for Central Government
• The RTI Playbook book

• CIC — guidelines for registration of second appeal, under rules 8 and 9 of the RTI Rules, 2012
• CIC — online appeal and complaint registration

Last reviewed: 26 August 2026. Document checklist and limitation verified against the Commission second-appeal guidelines this run; the old page demanded a notarised affidavit on stamp paper, which the 2012 Rules do not require and which has been removed.