The Patna High Court has ruled that to claim compensation under Section 19(8)(b) of the RTI Act, 2005, one must establish the extent of loss or harm suffered due to the delay in receiving information.
The Court was examining a writ petition seeking a direction to the State Information Commission to award compensation to the petitioner. The petitioner, Amit Anand, had sought compensation for delayed information from the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB). Amit Anand claimed he was entitled to compensation for the delay in receiving information from BSEB, citing a previous case where compensation was granted to Payal Kumari and others in similar situations. He argued that the delay caused him detriment, justifying his claim.
The Single Bench of Justice Rajesh Kumar Verma observed, “this Court has come to the conclusion that the petitioner has not produced/demonstrated the extent of loss or detriment suffered by him for award of compensation under Section 19(8)(b) of the RTI Act, 2005 and apart from that, the petitioner has not challenged the order dated 16.08.2019 by which the appeal of the petitioner was disposed of by the State Information Commission without awarding the compensation under Section 19(8)(b) of the RTI Act, 2005. Apart from that it transpire that the petitioner had never filed any application for grant of compensation before the State Information Commission.”
The Court dismissed the petition, noting that Anand failed to show any actual loss or detriment caused by the delayed information. It held that compensation under Section 19(8)(b) of the RTI Act requires proof of tangible harm. The Court also observed that Anand neither challenged the earlier order of the Commission nor filed a specific application for compensation.
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