Reason for delay in listing of SLP can be given: CIC

IBNLive.com: New Delhi: Tuesday, March 20, 2012.

The information related to delay in listing of a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court can be given under the Right to Information Act, the Central Information Commission has held. The decision by the transparency watchdog came while hearing an appeal filed by Chennai-based T Jhansi Lakshmi, who sought to know the details from the Central Public Information Officer of the apex court for delay in listing her plea. After carefully considering the facts of the case and the submissions made before it, the CIC noted that the decision to list a particular case on a specific day is taken by the Supreme Court Registry and the entire activity is computerised. "Since the appellant had not sought any information by way of a certified copy of any record and only the reasons for the SLP not getting listed on a specific day, possibly, this information could be accessed from the computer database," CIC Satyanand Mishra said. Earlier, the CPIO has declined to share the information, including the reasons for not listing the SLP on a particular date, saying that the inspection or search of judicial records could be undertaken only by following the procedure prescribed in the rules and orders of the apex court implying that the desired information could not be obtained through RTI. The respondent also submitted that information about a particular SLP could be provided only to the parties to the SLP and not to others on account of the provisions of the relevant rules and orders of the Supreme Court. After hearing both the sides, the CIC advised the appellant "either to approach the Supreme Court under its rules and orders to know about the reasons for the delayed listing of the case or make an application under the RTI to the CPIO". PTI AKV RAI