About Us

Who we are?

How is the State Information Commission constituted?

The State Information Commission is constituted by the State Government through a Gazette Notification. It will have one State Chief Information Commissioner and not more than ten State Information Commissioners to be appointed by the Governor. Oath of office will be administered by the Governor according to the form set out in the First Schedule to the Right to Information Act, 2005.

The headquarters of the State Information Commission is at Shillong.
The Commission will exercise its powers and functions without being subjected to any other authority.

Process of appointment of State Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioners:

The State Chief Information Commissioner and the State Information Commissioners shall be appointed by the Governor on the recommendation of the Committee consisting - of

1. The Chief Minister who shall be the Chairperson of the Committee.
2. The Leader of the Opposition in Legislative Assembly.
3. A Cabinet Minister to be nominated by the Chief Minister.

The State Chief Information Commissioner shall be a person of eminence in public life with wide knowledge and experience in law, science and technology, social service, management, journalism, mass media or administration and governance.

Terms of office and condition of service:

The State Chief Information Commissioner shall hold office for a term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office and shall not be eligible for re-appointment, provided with no State Chief Information Commissioner shall hold office as such after the has attained the age of sixty-five years.

The State Information Commissioners shall hold office for a term of five years or till he attained the age of sixty-five years whichever is earlier and shall not eligible for re-appointment as such State Information Commissioner.

However, State Information Commissioners shall on vacating his office be eligible for appointment as State Chief Information Commissioner but his term of office shall not be more than five years in aggregate as State Information Commissioner and the State Chief Information Commissioner.

Salary and allowances payable and other terms and conditions of service of: -

1. The State Chief Information Commissioner shall be the same as that of an Election Commissioner.
2. The State Information Commissioner shall be the same as that of the Chief Secretary of the State.

What we do?

Enquiry into Complaints.

It shall be the duty of the Commission to receive and inquire into complaints from persons aggrieved by any of the reasons given under section 18(1) of the Act. Where the Commission is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to inquire into the matter, it may initiate an inquiry thereof. While conducting an inquiry into a complaint, the Commission shall have the same powers as are vested in a civil court trying a suit under the Code of Civil Procedure,1908, in respect of the matters given under section 18 (3) of the Act. During an inquiry into a complaint under this Act, the Commission can examine any record to which the RTI Act applies which is under the control of the Public Authority.

Deciding 2nd Appeals.

Section 19(3) of the RTI Act provides for 2nd appeal before the State Information Commission. The 2nd appeal shall lie within 90 days from the date on which the decision should have been made by or was actually received from, the first appellate authority. The Information Commission may admit the 2nd appeal after the expiry of the period of 90 days, if it is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal in time. While making a decision, the State Information Commission has the power to require the Public Authority to comply with the provisions of the RTI Act -

1. by providing access to information
2. by appointing the State Public Information Officer
3. by publishing certain information or categories of information
4. by making necessary changes to its practices in relation to the maintenance, management and destruction of records
5. by enhancing the provision of training on the right to information for its officials
6. by providing it with an annual report in compliance with clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 4 of the Act.

The second appeals filed before the State Information Commission are decided in accordance with the Right to Information (Appeals & Procedures of the State Information Commission) Rules, 2007, notified by the Government of Meghalaya vide No. IPR/112/96/PT.IV/331 dated 1-8-2007. In an appeal proceedings, the onus to prove that the denial of request was justified shall be on the Public Information Officer who denied the request. If the appeal relates to information of a 3rd party, the 3rd party shall be given a reasonable opportunity of being heard before a decision is made by the Information Commission.

Awarding Compensation.

The RTI Act empowers the Information Commission to require the Public Authority to compensate the complainant for any loss or other detriment suffered.

Imposing Penalties.

The State Information Commission has the power to impose penalty on the State Public Information Officer for the following defaults:

Where the State Public Information Officer has –

1. without reasonable cause refused to receive an application for information or has not furnished information within the specified time limit or
2. malafidely denied the request for information or
3. knowingly given incorrect, incomplete or misleading information or
4. destroyed information which was the subject of the request or
5. Obstructed in any manner in furnishing the information.

The Penalty provided under section 20(1) of the RTI Act is Rs.250/-each day till the application is received or information is furnished. The total amount of such penalty shall not exceed twenty five thousand rupees.

Before imposing any penalty, the Commission shall give the State Information Officer a reasonable opportunity of being heard. The burden of proving that he acted reasonably and diligently shall be on the State Public Information Officer.

Recommending for disciplinary Action.

For any of the reasons mentioned above for imposing penalty on the SPIO, the Commission may recommend disciplinary action against the State Public Information Officer under the service rules applicable to him.

Preparation of the Annual Report.

Each report shall state in respect of the year to which the report relates -

1. the number of requests made to each public authority;
2. the number of decisions where applicants were not entitled to access to the documents pursuant to the requests, the provisions of this Act under which these decisions were made and the number of times such provisions were invoked;
3. the number of appeals referred to the Central Information Commission or State Information Commission, as the case may be, for review, the nature of the appeals and the outcome of the appeals;
4. particulars of any disciplinary action taken against any officer in respect of the administration of this Act;
5. the amount of charges collected by each public authority under this act;
6. any facts which indicate an effort by the public authorities to administer and implement the spirit and intention of this Act;
7. recommendations for reform, including recommendations in respect of the particular public authorities, for the development, improvement, modernization, reform of amendment to this Act or other legislation or common law or any other matter relevant for operationalising the right to access information.