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—cpd:pio:m8-first-appeal-defence [2026/07/22 17:47] (current) – created - external edit 127.0.0.1
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 +{{htmlmetatags>metatag-title=(M8, First Appeal Defence before the FAA, PIO Certification, RTI Wiki)
 +metatag-description=(How a PIO prepares the file note, ground-by-ground reply, and submissions before the First Appellate Authority under section 19(1) of the RTI Act 2005.)
 +metatag-keywords=(first appeal RTI, section 19(1), FAA, PIO file note, ground by ground reply, judicial discipline, RTI training)
 +metatag-robots=(index, follow)
 +metatag-og:title=(PIO Module 8, First Appeal Defence)
 +metatag-og:description=(Module 8 of the PIO Certification Course covers your role in the first appeal under section 19(1).)
 +metatag-og:type=(article)}}
 +
 +====== M8, First Appeal Defence, Before the FAA ======
 +
 +
 +
 +{{ :social:auto:cpd-pio-m8-first-appeal-defence.png?direct&1200 |M8, First Appeal Defence, Before the FAA — RTI Wiki}}
 +
 +<WRAP center round info 95%>
 +**Quick Reply:** How a PIO prepares the file note, ground-by-ground reply, and submissions before the First Appellate Authority under section 19(1) of the RTI Act 2005.
 +</WRAP>
 +
 +//Module 8 of 10. Reading time about 35 minutes. End-of-module quiz unlocks Module 9.//
 +
 +When a citizen is dissatisfied with your reply, the first appeal under section 19(1) of the RTI Act 2005 lies to a senior officer designated as the First Appellate Authority within your own public authority. This module is about what you, the PIO, do once the appeal is filed.
 +
 +===== The first appeal framework =====
 +
 +==== Section 19(1) ====
 +
 +"Any person who, does not receive a decision within the time specified in sub-section (1) or clause (a) of sub-section (3) of section 7, or is aggrieved by a decision of the Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer, as the case may be, may within thirty days from the expiry of such period or from the receipt of such a decision prefer an appeal to such officer who is senior in rank to the Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer as the case may be, in each public authority, provided that such officer may admit the appeal after the expiry of the period of thirty days if he or she is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal in time."
 +
 +==== Section 19(2) ====
 +
 +"Where an appeal is preferred against an order made by a Central Public Information Officer or a State Public Information Officer, as the case may be, under section 11 to disclose third party information, the appeal by the concerned third party shall be made within thirty days from the date of the order."
 +
 +==== Section 19(6) ====
 +
 +"An appeal under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) shall be disposed of within thirty days of the receipt of the appeal or within such extended period not exceeding a total of forty-five days from the date of filing thereof, as the case may be, for reasons to be recorded in writing."
 +
 +==== Section 19(7) ====
 +
 +"The decision of the Central Information Commission or State Information Commission, as the case may be, shall be binding."
 +
 +==== Section 19(10) ====
 +
 +"The Central Information Commission or State Information Commission, as the case may be, shall decide the appeal in accordance with such procedure as may be prescribed."
 +
 +===== The PIO's role in the first appeal =====
 +
 +==== Step 1, receipt and acknowledgement ====
 +
 +When the appeal is filed, your public authority's FAA office will receive it. You should be informed within one or two days, either by the FAA office routing a copy to you or by your own register tracking. Acknowledge receipt internally and pull the original RTI file.
 +
 +==== Step 2, preparation of the PIO file note ====
 +
 +The PIO must prepare a file note that becomes the spine of the FAA's order. The file note should contain:
 +
 +  - The original application and the date of receipt.
 +  - The processing trail, who marked, who searched, who responded.
 +  - The exemption analysis you conducted under section 8, 9, 24.
 +  - The severability decisions under section 10.
 +  - The third-party consultation if any under section 11.
 +  - The fee position under section 7(3) and section 7(5).
 +  - The original reply with annexures.
 +  - The appeal grounds.
 +  - A ground-by-ground response from the PIO.
 +
 +This file note is your professional record. It also protects you in any later section 20 proceeding.
 +
 +==== Step 3, ground-by-ground response ====
 +
 +The appeal will list specific grounds. Your response must address each ground separately, with reference to the statutory clause, the case law, and the facts of the file. Do not write a generic defence.
 +
 +A ground-by-ground response example:
 +
 +Ground 1, "PIO has wrongly invoked section 8(1)(j) for the file noting." Response, "Section 8(1)(j) was invoked only for the names of two third-party officers mentioned in the file noting. The file noting itself was disclosed with the relevant portions of those names redacted under section 10 severability. The Girish Deshpande 2013 principle was applied. The applicant has not stated any larger public interest under section 8(2) and the surrounding facts do not disclose one."
 +
 +Ground 2, "PIO has not supplied the photocopy charges receipt acknowledgment." Response, "The photocopy charge of fifty-six rupees was deposited by the applicant on DD-MM-YYYY vide IPO No. XYZ, and the office receipt was dispatched along with the reply by registered post on DD-MM-YYYY (POD No. ABC)."
 +
 +Each ground gets a paragraph. No ground is left unanswered.
 +
 +==== Step 4, submission to the FAA ====
 +
 +The PIO submits the file note, the original record, the supporting case law, and the ground-by-ground response to the FAA before the appeal is taken up for hearing. If a hearing is scheduled, the PIO appears in person or on video conference. The CIC has held that PIO presence at the FAA hearing is part of the PIO's duty to assist the appellate authority.
 +
 +==== Step 5, post-hearing ====
 +
 +If the FAA orders disclosure of information that the PIO had withheld, the PIO must comply within the time set by the FAA. The PIO does not have a right to challenge the FAA's order. The third party, however, has a right under section 19(2). The applicant has the right to second appeal under section 19(3) if still aggrieved.
 +
 +===== Judicial discipline before the FAA =====
 +
 +==== Treat the FAA as a quasi-judicial authority ====
 +
 +The FAA is your senior in the public authority but in the first appeal is performing a quasi-judicial function. Submissions must be respectful, factual, and statute-anchored. Internal politics or hierarchy should not enter the appellate file.
 +
 +==== Do not argue beyond your record ====
 +
 +Confine your response to the facts on the original file. If your reasoning at the original reply stage was thin, the right course is to acknowledge it and offer additional disclosure under section 10. Do not retrofit a stronger exemption that was not invoked in the original reply.
 +
 +==== When to concede ====
 +
 +If, on reading the appeal, you realise that the original reply was wrong or incomplete, concede in writing and supply the missing information. The CIC has reduced or waived section 20 penalty in cases where the PIO conceded at the first appeal stage. Stubborn defence of a wrong reply attracts higher penalty risk.
 +
 +==== When to defend ====
 +
 +Defend when the original reply applied a correct test on the correct facts. Defend by reference to the statute and case law, not by reference to "this is how we always do it".
 +
 +===== When the appeal is a complaint about delay =====
 +
 +The most common first appeal ground is delay. The thirty-day clock under section 7(1) is hard. If you breached the clock, do not deny it. Apologise, explain the reason (section 11 pause, section 7(3) pause, internal mis-marking, illness), and supply the information free of charge under section 7(6). The FAA can still take adverse note, but a candid explanation is your strongest defence.
 +
 +If you did not breach the clock, produce the date-stamped despatch register and the postal Proof of Delivery. The FAA can verify and dismiss the delay ground.
 +
 +===== When the appeal is a complaint about exemption invocation =====
 +
 +Walk the FAA through the exemption analysis paragraph by paragraph.
 +
 +  - State the clause invoked.
 +  - State the facts.
 +  - State the test from case law.
 +  - State the application.
 +  - State the section 8(2) override finding.
 +  - State the conclusion.
 +
 +If your original reply did not contain this analysis, acknowledge that the reply was thin and offer to supply additional information that severability now allows.
 +
 +===== When the appeal is a complaint about severability =====
 +
 +Walk the FAA through your section 10 application.
 +
 +  - Identify each redaction.
 +  - Identify the clause for each.
 +  - Identify the supplied portion.
 +
 +If the appellant is right that more could have been disclosed, concede and supply.
 +
 +===== When the appeal is a complaint about fee =====
 +
 +Produce the section 7(3) intimation, the calculation, and the rule under which the rate was applied. If the calculation is wrong, refund the excess.
 +
 +===== When the appeal is a complaint about non-existence of information ====
 +
 +"No information available" is a high-risk reply. The FAA will ask, what did the PIO search? Produce the search trail. Which file was opened, who searched, what was the result. The CIC has consistently held that a one-line denial without search is a deemed refusal.
 +
 +===== The PIO's drafting toolkit for first-appeal responses =====
 +
 +==== Opening paragraph ====
 +
 +"With reference to the appeal preferred by Shri / Smt. [Appellant] dated DD-MM-YYYY received in this office on DD-MM-YYYY against the reply of the undersigned dated DD-MM-YYYY, the ground-by-ground response is set out below for the kind consideration of the First Appellate Authority."
 +
 +==== Body ====
 +
 +Numbered ground-by-ground paragraphs.
 +
 +==== Concession paragraph (if applicable) ====
 +
 +"On further examination of the record in light of the appeal, the undersigned is satisfied that item 3 of the original application is disclosable in part under section 10. A supplementary reply along with the redacted document is enclosed herewith for transmission to the appellant."
 +
 +==== Closing paragraph ====
 +
 +"The original file containing the application, the inward register, the despatch register, the section 11 notice and response (if any), the section 7(3) intimation (if any), and the original reply with proof of delivery is submitted herewith for the kind perusal of the First Appellate Authority. The undersigned will be present at the hearing scheduled on DD-MM-YYYY."
 +
 +==== Signature ====
 +
 +PIO name, designation, date.
 +
 +===== File-noting discipline that survives the appeal =====
 +
 +A clean file note has the following sections in order:
 +
 +  - Inward, the date stamped application with serial number.
 +  - Marking trail, who received, who marked, who acted, with dates.
 +  - Search trail, files opened, registers consulted, officers contacted under section 5(4), responses received.
 +  - Section 11 trail, notice issued, response, PIO order.
 +  - Exemption analysis, the paragraph for each section 8 invocation.
 +  - Severability analysis, the redaction list with reasons.
 +  - Fee analysis, the section 7(3) computation if any.
 +  - Draft reply.
 +  - Approval, dated and signed.
 +  - Despatch, the despatch number and Proof of Delivery.
 +
 +If your file note has these sections, you can answer any first appeal in an hour. If it does not, you are vulnerable.
 +
 +===== Timelines under section 19(6) and PIO planning =====
 +
 +The FAA has thirty days from receipt, extendable to forty-five days for reasons recorded. As a PIO, your response should reach the FAA within ten days of being notified of the appeal, so that the FAA has at least twenty days to consider and decide. If you delay your response, the FAA delays the order, and the appellant can complain.
 +
 +===== When the third party files the first appeal under section 19(2) ====
 +
 +Where you ordered disclosure of third-party information despite the third party's objection, the third party has a right to first appeal under section 19(2). Your role in such an appeal is similar.
 +
 +  - Place the section 11 notice and the third-party response on record.
 +  - Place your reasoned order under section 11.
 +  - Defend the public interest analysis.
 +  - Comply with whatever the FAA orders.
 +
 +===== Closing note for Module 8 =====
 +
 +This module gave you the toolkit for the first appeal. In Module 9 we move to the second appeal before the CIC or SIC, where the stakes include the section 20 penalty.
 +
 +===== Cross-links you can use =====
 +
 +For the citizen's view of first appeal, see [[https://righttoinformation.wiki/how-to/file-first-appeal|How to file the first appeal]] on RTI Wiki.
 +
 +===== Disclosure =====
 +
 +This module is part of the RTI Wiki PIO Certification Course. The course is a Learner Certificate programme. It is NOT accredited by any government or statutory body. The drafting exercises in Module 7 are evaluated by a Large Language Model trained on RTI Wiki content, not by human evaluators. Scores are indicative knowledge measures, not legal advice.
 +
 +----
 +
 +//Now take the M8 quiz to proceed to M9.//
 +
 +{{tag>rti pio fir first appeal defence faa}}