Should information available under high court rules be also provided under RTI Act?
14 Feb, 2013Background
The appellant filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Allahabad High Court seeking information relating to a case filed in the section 482 of the Allahabad High Court. The Public Information Officer (PIO) did not provide any information on the ground that such information should be sought under the Allahabad High Court Rules, 1952.
Proceeding
During the hearing before the Central Information Commission (CIC), the appellant submitted that he had sent three applications to the Registrar General of the High Court by following the Allahabad High Court Rules 1952 seeking this information but did not get any response and only then he approached the PIO under the RTI. He expressed his helplessness that he had not been able to access this information either under the Allahabad High Court Rules or under the RTI. The respondent explained that such information was covered under the Allahabad High Court Rules 1952 and any citizen could easily get such information by approaching the office of the Registrar General.
View of CIC
The Commission advised the appellant to send a fresh application to the Registrar General of the High Court under the Allahabad High Court Rules 1952 with a copy endorsed to the PIO of the Allahabad High Court. The CIC also directed the PIO to ensure that the desired information is sent to the appellant after he files the fresh application under the Allahabad High Court Rules, 1952.
Comments
It is a matter of debate whether a citizen should be given an opportunity to seek information by filing an application under the RTI Act or under any other procedure prescribed under any other rules in vogue.
Citation: Mr. Girija Shankar Jaiswal v. Allahabad High Court in File No. CIC/WBA/2010/000215SM
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2013/CIC/1046
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission