🏛️ RTI Routing Fraud, CIC Concealment & Judicial Disobedience: A Citizen’s Audit

Author: Rajnish Ratnakar Filed Under: RTI Statutory Audit, CIC Accountability, Judicial Compliance Date: 13 September 2025

📌 Information Sought: RTI Application dated 01.08.2024

Filed originally with Department of School Education & Literacy (DOSEL), Ministry of Education, the RTI sought three precise points of certified information:

1.    Whether DOSEL is aware of the Supreme Court judgment dated 13.09.2012.

2.    Details of First Appellate Authorities (FAAs) appointed by DOSEL and its subordinate offices in the last two years.

3.    Eligibility status of those FAAs, specifically whether they possess law degrees or legal experience as per the Supreme Court’s criteria.

🧾 RTI Routing Fraud: DOSEL’s Illegal Transfer to NIOS

  • The RTI was wrongfully transferred by DOSEL’s CPIO to NIOS, an autonomous body with no custodianship over the requested records.
  • No Section 6(3) justification was provided.
  • NIOS, upon receiving the RTI, failed to re-transfer it back to DOSEL, compounding the custodianship breach.

🚫 Evasive Reply & FAA Failure

  • NIOS’s CPIO denied all three points under Section 2(f), claiming they do not qualify as “information.”
  • The First Appeal, filed on 27.08.2024 and decided on 06.09.2024, upheld the denial without addressing custodianship or transfer failure.

🕳️ CIC Concealment in Decision CIC/NIOPS/A/2024/649631

  • RTI reference number omitted
  • First Appeal reference number omitted
  • Custodianship trail suppressed
  • CIC falsely framed NIOS as the origin, shielding DOSEL from exposure.

Despite acknowledging contradictions between oral and written replies, CIC did not impose penalties under Section 20, nor did it recommend systemic reforms under Section 25.

⏱️ Delay Audit: Judicial Disobedience of Jayaprakash Reddy v. UOI

  • First Appeal Order Date: 06.09.2024
  • Second Appeal Filing Date (assumed): 05.12.2024 (90th day)
  • CIC Decision Date: 22.08.2025
  • Mandated Disposal Time: 45 days
  • Actual Time Taken: 261 days
  • Excess Delay: 216 days

This delay violates the Karnataka High Court judgment, which mandates disposal of second appeals within 45 days, and breaches Article 21 of the Constitution (Right to Speedy Justice).

⚖️ Statutory Violations Summary

Provision

Violation

RTI Act Sec 4(1)(a), (b)(ii–iv), (c)

Record concealment, procedural opacity

RTI Act Sec 6(3)

Illegal transfer, failure to re-transfer

RTI Act Sec 20

No penalty despite proven evasion

RTI Act Sec 25

No systemic reporting or reform recommendation

Public Records Act, 1993

Non-maintenance of adjudicatory records

Karnataka HC Judgment

Delay beyond 45 days

Article 21, Constitution

Breach of right to speedy justice

🛠️ Citizen Action Toolkit (Coming Soon)

  • Writ annexure templates for custodianship fraud
  • Replication dashboard for CIC concealment benchmarking
  • Mass audit model for RTI warriors to expose routing fraud and delay patterns

This case is not just a grievance—it’s a constitutional intervention. It exposes how custodianship fraud, evasive replies, and CIC concealment undermine the RTI framework and judicial mandates.

 

 

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