The petitioners are stated to be the Principal and State
Public Information Officer (SPIO) attached to a college. The
3rd respondent herein presented an application under the
Right to Information Act, 2005 (hereinafter referred to as the
‘Act’) to the 2nd petitioner seeking information regarding
admissions made in 2021 and those admitted to the college.
The 2nd petitioner, in his capacity as the SPIO, gave Ext.P2 in
reply, providing information on some of the queries, while
declining to provide information as regards the remaining
questions since, according to him, this information amounts
to personal information which does not require to be
disclosed. Aggrieved by the decision, the 3rd respondent
preferred an appeal before the first appellate authority;
however, the same was dismissed, as evidenced by Ext. P4
communication. Therefore, a further appeal was instituted
before the 1st respondent by the 3rd respondent herein, which
W.P(C) No.25153 of 2023 2026:KER:10999
led to Ext.P8 order being issued by the said authority. While
issuing Ext.P8 order, apart from directing the 2nd petitioner
herein to provide answers to various queries raised by the 3rd
respondent, a proposal to levy penalty under Section 20(1) of
the Act was also intimated to the petitioners, as evidenced by
paragraph 10 of the order. In obedience to the directions, the
2nd petitioner provided various details to the 3rd respondent
and also informed the 2nd respondent about the compliance
thereof, through Ext.P10. In Ext.P10, the 2nd petitioner also
explained the reason why he originally refused to provide
answers to some of the queries, apart from seeking to explain
certain observations made in Ext.P8 as regards his
appointment. The 2nd respondent thereafter issued Ext.P11
notice informing the 2nd petitioner that the explanations
offered were not satisfactory, hence the appeal ‘requires to
be heard once more’. On that basis, the matter was heard
again by the 2nd respondent, leading to the issuance of
Ext.P12, imposing a penalty of Rs.15,000/- under the
W.P(C) No.25153 of 2023 2026:KER:10999
provisions of the Act. The 2nd respondent also made certain
observations as regards the admissions made in the college
while deciding to impose penalty, since, according to him,
procedures were not transparent. Advice to the Government
Secretary for carrying out an enquiry as regards the
functioning of the college is also made by the 2nd respondent.