(1) The Central Information Commission or State Information Commission, as the case may be, shall, as soon as practicable after the end of each year, prepare a report on the implementation of the provisions of this Act during that year and forward a copy thereof to the appropriate Government.
(2) Each Ministry or Department shall, in relation to the public authorities within their jurisdiction, collect and provide such information to the Central Information Commission or State Information Commission, as the case may be, as is required to prepare the report under this section and comply with the requirements concerning the furnishing of that information and keeping of records for the purposes of this section.
(3) Each report shall state in respect of the year to which the report relates,—
(a)the number of requests made to each public authority;
(b)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;
(c)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;
(d)particulars of any disciplinary action taken against any officer in respect of the administration of this Act;
(e)the amount of charges collected by each public authority under this Act;
(f)any facts which indicate an effort by the public authorities to administer and implement the spirit and intention of this Act;
(g)recommendations for reform, including recommendations in respect of the particular public authorities, for the development, improvement, modernisation, reform or amendment to this Act or other legislation or common law or any other matter relevant for operationalising the right to access information.
(4) The Central Government or the State Government, as the case may be, may, as soon as practicable after the end of each year, cause a copy of the report of the Central Information Commission or the State Information Commission, as the case may be, referred to in sub-section (1) to be laid before each House of Parliament or, as the case may be, before each House of the State Legislature, where there are two Houses, and where there is one House of the State Legislature before that House.
(5) If it appears to the Central Information Commission or State Information Commission, as the case may be, that the practice of a public authority in relation to the exercise of its functions under this Act does not conform with the provisions or spirit of this Act, it may give to the authority a recommendation specifying the steps which ought in its opinion to be taken for promoting such conformity.
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 25
Section 25 establishes a comprehensive annual monitoring, reporting, and legislative accountability framework, mandating the Central and State Information Commissions to submit annual reports on the implementation of the Act to the appropriate Government for tabling before Parliament or State Legislatures.
In public interest litigations challenging systemic delays, backlogs, or widespread non-compliance by public authorities, rely upon the empirical disclosures contained in the Section 25 annual reports. Rejection patterns, disproportionate invocations of Section 8(1)(j), and failure to collect Section 20 penalties documented in Commission reports serve as admissible statutory admissions establishing systemic administrative failure.