The J&K State Information Commission (SIC) has initiated penalty proceedings under section 17 of J&K RTI Act, 2009 against the Public Information Officers (PIOs) in over 25 cases of appeals and complaints.It was revealed that penalty may be imposed by the SIC on the erring PIO on the grounds mentioned in section 17 of the Act at the rate of Rs 250 per day of delay beyond 30 days after the filing of the RTI application subject to the maximum of Rs. 25000. The SIC is also empowered to recommend disciplinary action against the erring PIO on the same grounds.Since March 2017 the SIC has conducted over 600 hearings at Srinagar and Jammu and through video conferencing from Srinagar and Jammu with the appellants, complainants, Public Information Officers (PIOs) and First Appellate Authorities from Kargil, Poonch, Udhampur, Doda, Kishtwar and between Jammu and Srinagar offices of the SIC.It was further revealed that between March and November 2017, the State Commission has disposed of over 225 appeals and complaints. The final orders are being uploaded on the State Information Commission’s Website www.sic.nic.in.