Certified copy of Hindi language version of the affidavit of assets - PIO: Official language of Supreme Court of India is English, proceedings are in English, language for administrative purpose is also English - CIC: Follow the Supreme Court Rules 2013

Information sought and background of the case:

The Appellant filed an RTI application dated 21.02.2024 seeking information on following points:-

“In the order issued on 04/11/2020 in the case of Rajneesh vs Neha, The Honorable Supreme Court had directed the parties in all the pending and new maintenance cases to submit an affidavit of assets and liabilities in a certain format, in relation to which Instructions were issued to all the subordinate courts and family courts to compulsorily submit the affidavit of the assets and liabilities mentioned above by the parties. The following information should be provided point wise regarding the affidavit of assets and liabilities mentioned above:-

 1) Provide a certified copy of the Hindi language version of the affidavit of assets and liabilities mentioned above.

2) Provide a certified copy of the English language version of the affidavit of assets and liabilities mentioned above.”

The CPIO, Addl. Registrar vide letter dated 21.03.2024 replied as under:-

“Point No.1 & 2: Information or copies/certified copies of the judicial record/Judgments/ Orders as available on record, can only be obtained by moving an application under Order XIII of Supreme Court Rules 2013, and other relevant provisions of the said Rules as is available and admissible.

Supreme Court Rules, 2013 are available on the Supreme Court website viz. https://www.sci.gov.in/ under the head 'Publications' and then 'Supreme Court Rules' and can be accessed/downloaded therefrom. Further you may refer to Chapter XX of Supreme Court of India: Handbook on Practice and Procedure and Office Procedure, 2017 which is available on website viz. www.sci.gov.in under the link "Practice & Procedure".

Further, you may, if so advised, refer to Central Information Commission decision in Second Appeal No. CIC/SCOFI/A/2018/631839-BJ dated 24/07/2020 available on the website of the Commission viz. www.cic.gov.in wherein it has been upheld that the information/copies of judicial record can only be accessed through respective Court Rules.

Further, all the judgments of this Hon'ble Court are reported in Law Journals and full text of judgments/orders as also case status & other details are also available on the Supreme Court website viz. https://www.sci.gov.in/ under the link "Judgments/Daily Orders/Case Status" and can be accessed/searched/ downloaded therefrom. Further, Assistant Registrar, Copying Branch vide letter No.35- RTI/Copying/2024 dated 15.03.2024 (copy enclosed) has also already sent you a suitable reply w.r.t. your application dated 21.02.2024. No further information on the part of CPIO, is called for.”

Dissatisfied with the response received from the CPIO, the Appellant filed a First Appeal dated 22.03.2024. The FAA, Registrar vide order dated 18.04.2024 stated as under :-

“6) The reply/response sent by CPIO as well as by Assistant Registrar (Copying Branch) are clear and explicit. The appellant is not a party in the matter viz. Cr. Appeal No. 730 of 2020 titled "Rajnesh v/s Neha & Ors". The appellant has already been informed about the procedure he is required to adopt for the purposes of obtaining the relevant certified copies. The procedure cannot be deviated or relaxed in favour of the appellant for any reason. The certified copies/inspection of any case documents cannot be made available under the Right to Information Act, 2005. Further, information about judgments/orders of this Hon'ble Court is available on the website i.e. www.sci.gov.in. The CPIO has rightly guided to the appellant to have access to the information through the website. Also further, official language of Supreme Court of India is English. It will be appropriate to mention here that all proceedings in the Supreme Court are in English language. The language for administrative purpose is also English. The contentions of the appellant are misconceived.

7) The requisite information has properly been communicated to the appellant. The reply sent by CPIO is appropriate and does not require any further addition or further elaboration. There appears no error or illegality in the same, hence, no interference is called for.

8) Viewed in the context of what has been stated above, there appears no substance and/or merit in the appeal of the appellant. Accordingly, the same is dismissed.”

Aggrieved and dissatisfied, the Appellant approached the Commission with the instant Second Appeal.

Facts emerging in Course of Hearing:

Appellant: Not present

Respondent: Ms. Himani Sarad, Addl. Registrar/CPIO and Ms. A. Deepa, Advocate- participated in the hearing.

The Respondent stated that the relevant information as available in their records has been duly provided to the Appellant. The Respondent stated that the appellant is not a party in the matter viz. Cr. Appeal No. 730 of 2020 titled "Rajnesh v/s Neha & Ors". Furthermore, the appellant has already been informed about the procedure he is required to adopt for the purposes of obtaining the relevant certified copies as per court rules.

Decision:

Upon perusal of records and submissions made during hearing, it is noted that the Appellant’s queries had been appropriately answered by concerned PIO. Thus, information as permissible under the provisions of the RTI Act has been duly furnished to the Appellant. In the given circumstances, no further intervention of the Commission is warranted in this case under the RTI Act. The appeal is disposed of accordingly.

The appeal is disposed off accordingly.

Heeralal Samariya

Chief Information Commissioner

Citation: Shri. Dinesh Kumar Chouhan v. Supreme Court of India, CIC/SCOFI/A/2024/623887; Date of Decision: 21.05.2025