Disposed¶¶32

Sri Hrishav Dhawaj Purkayastha v. the State Information Commission Assam and 3 Ors.

RTI – Pending second appeal

Gauhati HC12 May 2026WA/137/2026

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What is this about?

Gauhati High Court, WA/137/2026, writ appeal disposed of on 13-05-2026; Right to Information Act Section 19(3); second appeal pending before State Information Commission Assam (respondent No.1); RTI queries on retiral benefits and provisional pension approval order; Single Judge order in WP(C) 710/2026 modified; second appeal to be disposed within 8 weeks; Bench: Ashutosh Kumar, C.J. and Arun Dev Choudhury, J.; advocates M.P. Choudhury and D. Deka.

What did the court decide?

Writ appeal disposed of; order of the learned Single Judge modified to require respondent No.1 (State Information Commission, Assam) to dispose of the appellant's second appeal under Section 19(3) of the Right to Information Act within 8 (eight) weeks, as undertaken by counsel for respondent No.1. ¶¶32

Sri Hrishav Dhawaj Purkayastha Vs the State Information Commission Assam and 3 Ors. — Gauhati HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

Page No.# 1/4

GAHC010057302026

2026:GAU-AS:6629-

THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT (HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH)

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Case No. : WA/137/2026

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SRI HRISHAV DHAWAJ PURKAYASTHA

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S/O. SRI. BIKASH PURKAYASTHA, R/O. MALUGRAM, NABAPALLY ROAD, P/O. SILCHAR-2, P/S. MALUGRAM OUTPOST, DIST. CACHAR, ASSAM, PIN788002

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VERSUS

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THE STATE INFORMATION COMMISSION ASSAM AND 3 ORS STATE INFORMATION COMMISSION, JONAKEE COMPLEX, PANJABARI, GUWAHATI-781037, ASSAM.

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2:THE FIRST APPELLATE AUTHORITY DIRECTOR OF SECONDARY EDUCATION ASSAM KAHILIPARA GUWAHATI-781019

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3:THE PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER O/O. INSPECTOR OF SCHOOLS CDC SILCHAR DIST. CACHAR ASSAM PIN-788001

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4:THE PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER REP. BY THE PRINCIPAL (I/C) BANSKANDI NMHS SCHOOL BANSKANDI DIST. CACHAR ASSAM PIN-78810

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Page No.# 2/4

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For the appellant : Mr. M.P. Choudhury, Advocate For the respondents : Mr. D. Deka, Advocate for Respondent No.1

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– B E F O R E –

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HON’BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MR. ASHUTOSH KUMAR HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE ARUN DEV CHOUDHURY

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13-05-2026

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(Ashutosh Kumar, C.J.)

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We have heard Mr. M.P. Choudhury, learned Advocate for the appellant and Mr. D. Deka, learned Advocate for the respondent No.1.

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The appellant had filed one RTI application in the month of January, 2025 before the Public Information Officer, namely, the Inspector of Schools, Silchar seeking detailed information about processing of the file of his father and the delay in grant of his retiral benefits. However, no information was received by the appellant except for partial answer to the queries raised by him.

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The appellant, dissatisfied with the incomplete information, preferred an appeal before the First Appellate authority, where also he was only provided with partial response, namely, answers to only some of the queries and not to all of them, which, according to the appellant, were interconnected. The appellant, thereafter, preferred a second appeal under Section 19(3) of the Right to Information Act before the respondent No.1 but till date, the second appeal has not been disposed off.

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Page No.# 3/4

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Under such circumstances, the appellant has preferred the writ petition [WP(C) 710/2026].

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It appears that at the motion stage itself, the learned Single Judge sought information from the Standing Counsel for the respondent Nos.2 and 3 with respect to query Nos.16 and 17 of the RTI application. Those queries related to the process, namely, whether a retired employee is served with a copy of the approval order for provisional pension and whether such supply of the approval order to the pensioner is mandatory.

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On the Standing Counsel informing the learned Single Judge that it was mandatory, the learned Single Judge concluded that since the queries of the appellant have been satisfied, no further order is required to be passed.

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The appellant questions such an order on the ground that there are still some queries left, which were required to be answered. Instead of issuing a direction to the Second Appellate authority, namely, the respondent No.1, for disposing off this second appeal, the writ petition was closed.

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Mr. D. Deka, learned Advocate, who appears for the respondent No.1, submits that the second appeal preferred by the appellant shall be disposed off within a period of 8 (eight) weeks, to be counted from today.

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In view of such assertion by the learned Advocate for the

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Page No.# 4/4

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respondent No.1, we close this appeal by modifying the order passed by the learned Single Judge to the extent that the second appeal would be disposed off by the respondent No.1 within the aforesaid period.

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The writ appeal stands disposed off.

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JUDGE CHIEF JUSTICE

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Sri Hrishav Dhawaj Purkayastha v. the State Information Commission Assam and 3 Ors.

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Sri Hrishav Dhawaj Purkayastha v. the State Information Commission Assam and 3 Ors.

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