“ Sub-section (3) of Section 19 states, “A second appeal against the decision under sub-section (1) shall lie within ninety days from the date on which the decision should have been made or was actually received, with the Central Information Commission or the State Information Commission.” This provision does not clearly specify as to whether the applicant or information seeker (who made the first appeal) is alone entitled to make the second appeal before the Commission. Therefore, even CPIO or PIO, if he or she is of the view that the decision made by the first appellate authority is not in accordance with the RTI Act provisions, can file the second appeal before the Commission under Section 19(3). Similarly, the first Appellate Authority can also file the appeal before the Commission as the law does not prohibit any such category. The Full Bench of Central Information Commission in a case [Mrs. Guninder Kaur Gill v. Shri Prabhakar, DCP EOW, Appeal No. CIC/WB/A/07/00679, dated 22.5.2007] reconsidered the issue [since the Commission had rejected an appeal made by the CPIO in K.K. Shrivastava, CPIO v. Chief Commissioner, Central Excise, Mumbai, decided on 3.3.2006] and held that the word „person‟ has not been defined in the Act, but it is wide enough to include a Public Authority, which is a juristic entity and as such is a „person‟ in the eye of law. The right of appeal is a legal right and is available to every aggrieved party to a proceeding and this right cannot be taken away unless law explicitly provides it. In other words, the CPIO or the AA can also file the appeal (second appeal) before the Commission. ”
