Information relating to the filing of cases under section 125 of the CrPC
8 Apr, 2013Background
The appellant filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Punjab & Haryana High Court seeking information relating to the filing of cases under section 125 of the CrPC. The Public Information Officer (PIO) denied the information stating that most of the queries did not amount to information within the meaning of section 2(f) “information” means any material in any form, including records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force; of the RTI Act and was in the nature of seeking opinion.
Proceedings
During the hearing before the Central Information Commission (CIC), the appellant submitted that the information sought by him related to the practice and procedure of district courts. He insisted that the High Court should provide the copies of the rules and regulations in this regard. The respondent submitted that the High Court did not frame any rules on court fees and there was no such rule or instruction to be disclosed. The respondent explained that the court fees were governed under the provisions of the Court Fees Act and the High Court had nothing to do with this. The respondent further submitted that the PIO could not be expected to give advice or opinion on how much court fees would be required for filing an application under section 125 of the CrPC or other such queries. He suggested that the appellant could seek such advice from any lawyer or advocate.
View of CIC
The Commission observed that the queries were in the nature of seeking advice or opinion of the PIO on a variety of legal issues and were not related to the High Court. The CIC advised the appellant to seek such information from the relevant District Court which is an independent public authority under the Right to Information (RTI) Act or from any other legal expert.
Citation: Mr. Dinesh Singhal v. Punjab & Haryana High Court in File No. CIC/SM/A/2012/001585
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2013/CIC/1182
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission