Date:14/02/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/02/14/stories/2006021415130300.htm

New Delhi

CIC overrules court registrar decision

Staff Correspondent

Case filed under the Right to Information Act

CPIO's response to plea for case details "evasive"

Apex court registrar upholds CPIO's order

NEW DELHI: Exercising its jurisdiction over the administrative side of the judiciary for the first time, the Central Information Commission upheld an appeal against the dismissal of an application asking the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of the Supreme Court for details of the action taken by the Supreme Court in a case filed before it.

The CPIO in a brief order rejected the applicant, Subhash Chandra Agrawal's application saying that the complaint he was seeking was kept on record in the relevant High Court file. The applicant appealed against the CPIO's decision before the Registrar (Administration), Supreme Court, the first appellate authority under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, saying that the response of the CPIO was "evasive".

The Registrar, while dismissing the appeal, held that the CPIO's order had provided adequate information. Mr. Agrawal then went in appeal to the Central Information Commission, arguing that the CPIO's orders had given him no "actionable information."

Upholding Mr Agrawal's contention, a two-member bench of the Commission, comprising Chief Central Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah and Central Information Commissioner Padma Balasubramaniam, ruled that the CPIO's order by not mentioning when, and under what reference, the application had been transferred to the High Court, made it impossible for the appellant to find ways of seeking further information. The Commission ordered the CPIO of the Supreme Court to inform the applicant of the reference number and date of the orders transferring the application to the High Court to enable the applicant to make a suitable application to the public authority concerned to access the information sought.

The Commission observed that the letter informing the applicant of the transfer of the application to the High Court was sent after the 30-day period mandated for the disposal of the application under section 7(1) of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

However, the Commission did not impose a penalty on the CPIO.