Examine RTI rules, info commission tells HC.

Times of India; Swati Deshpande;Tuesday 3 May 2011,

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra State Information Commission has recommended to the Bombay high court the need to "examine judicially the rules framed by the Chief Justice of the HC under the Right to Information (RTI) Act to see whether they are in conformity with the provisions of the Act and its spirit." And if found not to be in conformity with the Act, the commission has asked the HC to "take steps to promote such conformity."

The commission made this recommendation while upholding the order of the HC registrar general in rejecting an appeal filed by Kandivli resident and social worker N Anandnatraj who in 2009 had made an RTI application to get the record of proceedings with regard to a civil writ petition of 1995. The HC public information officer and later the first appellate authority had held that under the Bombay HC RTI rules, information pertaining to judicial proceedings or records cannot be supplied under the RTI Act. But they said that the information could be obtained under the Bombay HC rules from the court's facilitation centre.