What should be done in case nodal officer transfers to the wrong public authority?

Question

There are 2 public authorities here. I asked for documents submitted by Authority A to the Central Authority B and filed the request with B. As per the law, information is to be held by the authority B and A might have kept a copy of it while submitting. However, nodal officer transferred the application to A, instead of forwarding it to CPIO of B. I wanted to look at the copy which is held by B, as A might tamper with it or not provide at all as it is of sensitive nature to A and possible case of corruption in A. What can I do now?

Answer 1

As per section section 6(3) of the RTI act, the PIO can transfer the RTI application to Where an application is made to a public authority requesting for an information,

(i) which is held by another public authority; or
(ii) the subject matter of which is more closely connected with the functions of another public authority, the public authority, to which such application is made, shall transfer the application or such part of it as may be appropriate to that other public authority and inform the applicant immediately about such transfer: Provided that the transfer of an application pursuant to this subsection shall be made as soon as practicable but in no case later than five days from the date of receipt of the application.

In this case, you can specifically request in the RTI application to the concerned authority to provide information as per their records.

Answer 2

Wrong transfer of an application by the Nodal PIO amounts to willful obstruction of information as per order in CIC/DOEAF/A/2019/645778. And ignorance of the law/procedure is not an excuse as per order in CIC/POSTS/A/2017/130371. Quote both orders in a fresh RTI, or in a first appeal (against the action by PIO of B authority for transferring RTI). Also, highlight in your new RTI (or 1st appeal) that you specifically want a copy of the documents that lie with THAT authority, & that it need not be bothered w.r.t the other public authority. The same "transfer transfer transfer" happened in a case (CIC/MCULT/A/2018/137491) where discrepancies were found for the same document between different offices... so you're right in asking for the copies from THAT authority.