Table of Contents
Commission Decisions — the CIC line of case law
A curated index of orders of the Central Information Commission and significant State Information Commissions that shape the day-to-day working of the Right to Information Act, 2005. Each entry below opens with a plain-language summary.
What are Commission orders and why do they matter?
The Central Information Commission is the final appellate authority for Central Government matters under Section 19(3) of the Right to Information Act, 2005. A State Information Commission has the equivalent jurisdiction for State matters. The Commission's orders bind the Public Information Officer in the particular matter and set persuasive guidance on the scope of the Act. Where the Commission has laid down a general position on procedure, the order is followed by later Commissions and by First Appellate Authorities across the country.
Curated decisions
- Ketan Kantilal Modi v. Central Board of Excise & Customs. Scope of Section 6(1) “concerned public authority” and Section 6(3) transfer. One application cannot seek information scattered across many public authorities; the applicant must file with the authority that actually holds the record.
- Ministers under the Right to Information Act. The offices of Union and State Ministers are declared “public authorities” under Section 2(h). Each Ministerial office must designate a Public Information Officer, a First Appellate Authority, and comply with Section 4 suo motu disclosure.
- Format of reply by the Public Information Officer. Department of Personnel and Training Office Memorandum dated 6 October 2015 on the minimum content of a reply: application reference, Public Information Officer identity, clause-wise reasoning on any withholding, appeal route, and the certified-copy endorsement.
- Appearance of an Advocate or non-Advocate before the Commission. Punjab State Information Commission, Full Bench. Any person, including a non-Advocate, may appear on behalf of an information-seeker with the Commission's authorisation. The representative may charge a consideration.
- Nihar Ranjan Banerjee v. M. N. Ghosh — power of review. The Commission has an inherent power of review in cases of procedural infirmity or error apparent on the face of the record, notwithstanding the silence of the Act on review.
Namespace listing
New to RTI? File your first application in ten minutes. See How to File RTI Online in India — 2026 Step-by-Step Guide with a ready-to-use English and Hindi template, the Rs 10 online fee flow, and the appeal path.
Related
- Case law library. The section-wise index of all decisions held on this site.
- High Court decisions. The parallel index of High Court rulings under the Act.
- The Right to Information Act, 2005 — current text. With amendment overlays at every section.
- PIO reply after DPDP Rules, 2025. The practitioner note on the post-14-November-2025 procedure.
- Guide for Public Information Officers. Day-to-day drafting and decision-making guidance.
Sources
- The Right to Information Act, 2005 (No. 22 of 2005), Sections 2(h), 4, 6, 7, 18, and 19.
- The Right to Information (Amendment) Act, 2019 (No. 24 of 2019).
- The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (No. 22 of 2023), Section 44(3).
Last reviewed on
19 April 2026