S.Fayas Ahamed v. The State Information Commissioner

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS

DATED: 01-06-2026

CORAM

THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE M.DHANDAPANI S.Fayas Ahamed, S/o. Shabeer, No.322, Periyar Street, Pelliyappa Nagar, Walajapet, Ranipet District-632 513 ..Petitioner Vs

1. The State Information Commissioner Tamil Nadu State Information Commission, No.2, Thiyagaraya Road, Teynampet, Chennai-600 018

2. The First Appellate Authority/Waqf Superintendent, Office of the Waqf Superintendent, No.8, Bahadur Shah Mosque Campus, Arni Road, Sainathapuram, Vellore-632001

3. The Public Information Officer/ Waqf Inspection, Office of the Waqf Inspector, No.8, Bahadur Shah Mosque Campus, Arni Road, Sainathapuram, Vellore -632001

...Respondents

PETITION under Article 226 of The Constitution of India praying for the issuance of a Writ of Mandamus to direct the 1st respondent to dispose the 2nd appeal and subsequently initiate a departmental action against the 3rd respondent for not furnishing the information pursuant to the RTI petition dated 27.10.2025.

For Petitioner:

Mr.R.Sunil Kumar For R1:

Mr.C.Vigneswaran

ORDER

This is a petition filed by the petitioner seeking a direction to the first respondent to dispose of the second appeal and to initiate departmental action against the third respondent for not furnishing the information pursuant to the petition of the petitioner dated 27.10.2025 under the Right to Information Act.

2. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned counsel accepting notice for the first respondent. In view of the limited nature of the relief this Court proposes to grant, notice to respondents 2

and 3 is dispensed with and the writ petition itself is taken up for final disposal.

3. The case of the petitioner is as follows:

(i) The petitioner submitted an application on 27.10.2025 to the third respondent under Section 6(1) of the Right to Information Act, 2005 seeking certified copies of annual income and expenditure accounts of bazaar mosque at Walajah, Ranipet District for the period from 2020 to 2025, copies of bills relating to the accounts and certified copies of lease agreements of all the shops belonging to the said mosque for the said period.

(ii) According to the petitioner, the information sought for pertains to the administration and financial management of the wakf properties, which are public properties administered under the statutory supervision of the Tamil Nadu Wakf Board. Instead of furnishing the information sought for by the petitioner, vide communication dated 25.11.2025, the third respondent merely stated in his reply that the information sought for was not available in his office.

(iii) Aggrieved by the said reply of the third respondent, on 28.11.2025, the petitioner preferred an appeal under Section 19(1) of the said Act before the second respondent. But, vide reply dated 06.1.2026, the second respondent rejected the appeal filed by the petitioner. Not satisfied with that, the petitioner filed the second appeal before the first respondent on 23.1.2026 under Section 19(3) of the said Act. In this writ petition, the petitioner seeks a direction to the first respondent to consider the said second appeal dated 23.1.2026.

4. Considering the limited nature of the relief sought for and without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, the writ petition is disposed of with a direction to the first respondent to consider the second appeal filed by the petitioner dated 23.1.2026 on merits and pass appropriate orders thereon in accordance with law within a period of six weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. No costs. 01-06-2026 Index: Yes/No

Speaking/Non-speaking order To

1. The State Information Commissioner Tamil Nadu State Information commission, No.2, Thiyagaraya Road, Teynampet, Chennai-600 018

2. The First Appellate Authority /Waqf Superintendent, Office of the Waqf Superintendent, No.8, Bahadur shah Mosque Campus, Arni Road, Sainathapuram, Vellore -632001

3. Public Information Officer/ Waqf Inspection, Office of the Waqf Inspector, No.8, Bahadur shah Mosque Campus, Arni Road, Sainathapuram, Vellore -632001 RLI

M.DHANDAPANI,J RLI 01-06-2026