After a CIC or SIC order, a writ petition to the High Court under Article 226 is your only further remedy. The RTI Act gives no appeal beyond the Commission. A writ is not a re-hearing: the High Court steps in only for jurisdictional error, breach of natural justice, perversity, or non-compliance with the Commission's own order.
Short on time? Jump to the step-by-step filing section and the which court and fees guidance.
The RTI Act, 2005 builds a closed ladder. You file your application under Section 6. If refused or ignored, you file a first appeal under Section 19(1). If still unsatisfied, you file a second appeal to the Central Information Commission (CIC) or your State Information Commission (SIC) under Section 19(3). The Commission's order is the end of the road inside the Act. There is no third statutory appeal.
So when a citizen asks “where do I appeal a CIC order,” the honest answer is: you do not appeal it. You challenge it. That challenge is a writ petition to the High Court under Article 226 - a constitutional remedy, not a statutory one, and it works on a narrow set of grounds.
Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak, a retired teacher in Patna, learned this the hard way. His SIC second appeal was dismissed without the Commission even reading his written submission. He spent two months hunting for an “RTI appeal form” that does not exist, before realising his only door was the Patna High Court under Article 226.
Section 23 of the RTI Act says: “No Court shall entertain any suit, application or other proceeding in respect of any order made under this Act and no such order shall be called in question otherwise than by way of an appeal under this Act.”
Read fast, that sounds like a total bar. It is not. Section 23 stops you from filing an ordinary civil suit in a district court against an RTI order. It does not, and cannot, touch the High Court's writ power under Article 226. The Constitution gives every High Court plenary writ jurisdiction, and a plain statute like the RTI Act cannot oust it. So Section 23 closes the civil-court door while the constitutional door under Article 226 stays open.
A writ is not a second appeal in disguise. The High Court will not re-weigh evidence or substitute its own view on what should have been disclosed. It intervenes only where the Commission's order is legally defective. The recognised grounds are:
If your only complaint is “I disagree with the result,” a writ will likely fail. If the order is arbitrary, unreasoned, or passed without hearing you, you have a real case.
The two writs that matter in RTI are certiorari and mandamus. You often pray for both.
Know the limit, too. In a 2023 writ petition, the Kerala High Court held that “writ jurisdiction under Article 226 cannot be invoked to impose penalties against the Information Officers under the Right to Information Act, 2005.” Penalty under Section 20 is the Commission's job, not the High Court's. So do not ask the High Court to fine the PIO; ask it to send the matter back to the Commission to do so.
Which High Court. File in the High Court that has territorial jurisdiction over the authority whose order or conduct you challenge - usually where the CIC/SIC sits or where the public authority is located. A CIC order is generally challenged in the Delhi High Court; an SIC order in that State's High Court.
Court fees. Court fees on a writ petition are nominal but are fixed by each State's Court Fees Act and the High Court's own rules, so the exact figure differs from State to State. Do not rely on a single number you read online - check your High Court's current rules or ask the filing counter. As of 2026 the fee is modest in every State, but it is not uniform.
Counsel. You can file a writ petition in person (as a “party-in-person”) in most High Courts, but writ pleadings and oral argument are technical. Most petitioners engage an advocate. Legal-aid help is available through the State Legal Services Authority if cost is a barrier.
Timelines. Be realistic. Admission can take weeks; final disposal can take months to over a year, depending on the High Court's docket. Article 226 has no fixed limitation period, but courts apply the doctrine of laches - file promptly, ideally within 90 days of the Commission's order, and certainly do not sit on it for years.
When natural justice was breached, High Courts often do not decide your RTI claim themselves. They set aside the order and remand the matter to the Commission to hear you afresh. Plan your prayer with that outcome in mind.
The Supreme Court's foundational RTI ruling, CBSE v. Aditya Bandopadhyay, (2011) 8 SCC 497, settled what “information” means under Section 2(f) and held that a citizen can inspect records and take certified copies. It is not a writ-jurisdiction case, but it is the benchmark on the substance of your right. Cite it for the right; cite the High Court cases above for the remedy.
Article 226 has no fixed limitation period, so there is no hard deadline like the 30 or 90 days you see in statutory appeals. But High Courts apply laches - unexplained delay can sink your petition. File within about 90 days of the Commission's order to be safe. Section 23 of the RTI Act bars an ordinary civil suit against an RTI order; it does not bar a writ under Article 226, because a statute cannot take away the High Court's constitutional writ power.
Yes. Most High Courts allow you to appear as a “party-in-person” and file your own writ petition. But writ drafting, annexure pagination, and oral argument follow strict court rules, and a procedural slip can get your petition dismissed at admission. If you cannot afford an advocate, apply to your State Legal Services Authority for free legal aid before filing.
The court fee on a writ petition is nominal, but it is fixed by each State's Court Fees Act and the High Court's rules, so it varies and there is no single national figure. The bigger cost is usually advocate's fees, which differ widely. Check your High Court's current fee schedule at the filing counter, and ask about legal aid if cost is a barrier.
Sometimes. If the information you want still exists and your earlier RTI failed on a technicality, a fresh, better-drafted RTI application can be faster and cheaper than a writ. A writ makes sense when the Commission's order itself is legally wrong and you need that order quashed. If you only want the information and the order is not blocking you, try a clean fresh application first. Use our AI RTI Drafter to draft it tightly.