CIC directs Punjab & Haryana High Court to computerize the records
27 Oct, 2012Background
The appellant filed six applications under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Punjab & Haryana High Court seeking variety of information such as details of pending cases before the High Court, legal aid provided by the High Court Legal Services Committee etc.The Public Information Officer (PIO) provided some information in response to all the applications.
View of CIC
The Central Information Commission (CIC) directed the PIO to provide the photocopy of the rules governing the provision of legal aid to the citizens with the number of special order cases which had been fixed for hearing on priority during the period mentioned in the RTI application. The Commission also directed for disclosure of number of cases which had been found missing along with the number of cases reconstituted; the total number of applications received during the period mentioned in the RTI application for legal aid and the number of cases in which legal aid was provided including the total financial cost of that. The CIC observed that the remaining information sought by the appellant cannot be provided either because the same was not available in material form or because it would disproportionately divert the resources of the High Court. The CIC further noted that as far as possible the records should be computerized or stored digitally in a manner that makes the retrieval easy. The CIC advised the public authority concerned to identify the classes of information which are usually needed by the public and proactively disclose those through its website with adequate user friendly search facilities so that there would be little need for public to seek such information under RTI.
Citation: Mr. Aseem Takyar v. Punjab & Haryana High Court in File No.CIC/SM/A/2012/000193, 696, 789, 1222, 1243 & 1244
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2012/CIC/752
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission