Ashutosh Gautam v. Central Information Commission — CIC 2023
Quick Reply: A second appeal decided on procedure: the Commission disposed of it with directions on §10 severance and §11 third-party notice compliance. The lesson for every appellant — appeals are won and lost on the paperwork sequence: was the third party noticed, was the severable part separated, was each ground answered? Get that checklist right and the merits take care of themselves.
Central Information Commission · 2023-01-16 · CIC File No. IK/84763035
Considered a procedural second-appeal matter before the Central Information Commission. Considered a procedural second-appeal matter before the Central Information.
Considered a procedural second-appeal matter before the Central Information Commission.
Case details
| Court | Central Information Commission |
|---|---|
| Decided | 2023-01-16 |
| Citation | CIC File No. IK/84763035 |
| Bench | CIC Single Bench |
| Petitioner | Ashutosh Gautam |
| Respondent | Central Information Commission |
| RTI Act sections | §19(3) |
| Outcome | partly allowed |
Outcome
Considered a procedural second-appeal matter before the Central Information Commission.
Reading the order
- The Commission exercised its §19(3) power to dispose of the second appeal — with directions on two procedural duties:
- §10 severance — the disclosable part of a record must be separated out and supplied even where part is exempt;
- §11 third-party notice — where information involves a third party who treated it as confidential, the notice-and-opportunity procedure must actually have run before disclosure or rejection.
The appellant's checklist this order enforces
1. **Plead severance expressly** — "to the extent any portion is exempt, the remainder be provided under §10." 2. **Track the §11 trail** — if a third-party notice was issued, ask for its copy, the response and the PIO's reasoned weightage. 3. **Demand reasons** — §19(8)(a) directions live on reasons recorded, not conclusions asserted. 4. **Dress the appeal as a sequence**: application → reply → first appeal → order → the specific default at each step.
Ratio decidendi
Second appeal disposed under §19(3) with directions on §10 severance and §11 third-party-notice compliance — procedure enforced as the path to the right.
Keywords
central, information, commission
Similar cases in the corpus
Related
FAQs
What is severance in one line?
Give me the part the exemption does not cover — blackline the rest.
When is a third-party notice required?
Where the information was supplied by a third party in confidence, or discloses their interests — the PIO must give them a say before deciding (§11(1)).
The PIO skipped the notice and refused anyway — remedy?
That is a procedural illegality: first appeal on the skipped §11, and the Commission can order the process run afresh.
Does this apply to State appeals too?
The sections are central-and-state — the same §10/§11 checklist travels to any SIC.
Editorial summary, not a certified report. The ratio here is an editorial compression. Before citing this ruling in a PIO order, FAA speaking order, or any appellate filing, verify against the full reported decision. RTI Wiki is not a legal service.
Editorial summary · expanded 27 August 2026; truncated description completed; the s.10/s.11 appellate checklist drawn from the recorded ratio.