Can a deficiency in the order of the Court be settled through RTI?
12 Feb, 2013Background
The appellant filed two applications under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Delhi High Court (DHC) seeking information on some points one relating to the action taken on his complaint against a High Court judge who had passed an order in his case and other regarding the discrepancy between the order passed by the Supreme Court of India (SCI) and the High Court in conferring the benefit of pension to some other employees while denying it to the appellant. The Public Information Officer (PIO) informed that his complaint had been considered and filed. Further the, PIO informed that the appellant had not sought information but was seeking the opinion which was beyond the duty of the PIO.
View of CIC
The Central Information Commission (CIC) noted that the appellant is a retired employee of the DTC who had challenged the decision of the DTC to deny him pension when some other employees had been given the same benefit in the High Court. The CIC observed that the appellant wanted the opinion of the PIO about how two sets of similarly placed individuals were treated differently by the High Court. The Commission held that any alleged deficiency in the High Court order cannot be set right under RTI. The CIC ruled that it is not the duty of the PIO to offer comments on orders passed by the High Court or the Supreme Court and hence there is no more information to be disclosed under RTI Act. The CIC advised the appellant to seek legal opinion from an expert and decide about the next course of action.
Citation: Mr. Ramesh Chand Jain v. Delhi High Court in File No. CIC/SM/A/2012/001188 & 1275
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2013/CIC/1039
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission