ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, TO DESIGNATE OTHER OFFICERS, AS PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICERS, AND ALSO TO RECOMMEND DISCIPLINARY ACTION, IF DOESN'T RENDER NECESSARY HELP TO PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER.

The public information officer may seek the assistance of any other officer as he or she considers necessary for the proper discharge of his or her duties.The officer, whose assistance is so sought by the public information officer, would render all assistance to him. Such an officer shall be deemed to be a public information officer and would be liable for contravention of any provisions of the Act the same way as any other public information officer. It would be advisable for the public information officer to inform the officer whose assistance is sought, about the above provision, at the time of seeking his assistance. (2) Some public information officers, on the basis of above referred provision of the Act, transfer the RTI applications received by them to other officers and direct them to send information to the applicants, as deemed public information officer. Thus, they used the above referred provision to designate other officers as public information officer. According to the Act, it is the responsibility of the officer who is designated as the public information officer by the public authority to provide information to the applicant or reject the application for any reasons specified in section 8and 9 of the Act. The Act enables the public information officer to seek assistance of any other officer to enable him to provide information to the information seeker, but it doesn't give him authority to designate any other officer as public information officer and direct him to send reply to the applicant. The import of the provision is that, if the officer whose assistance is sought by the public information officer, don't render necessary help to him, the information commission may impose penalty on such officer or recommend disciplinary action against him the same way as the commission may impose penalty on or recommend disciplinary action against the public information officer.