Times of India: New Delhi: Saturday, February 27, 2016.
The Delhi
high court has decided to amend its RTI rules, 2006 regarding application fees
and exemption to applicants below poverty line (BPL).
A bench of
Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath noted that the Centre had made
the RTI (regulation of fee and cost) Rules, 2005, and superseded it in 2012 in
which rules prescribe the fees for providing information.
Amendments
affected to the High Court Rules as well as the District Rules have brought the
fee structure in conformity with provisions of the RTI Rules, 2012 of the
Centre. Similarly, the BPL persons are exempted from payment of fees, provided
a copy of the certificate issued by the government is submitted along with the
application," the court observed.
The HC was
hearing a plea filed by four law students seeking harmonisation of fees charged
under high court's RTI rules and the parent RTI rules.
The plea had
also sought quashing of Rule 3 of Delhi High Court RTI Rules, 2006, under which
separate applications have to be made to access unrelated information. But this
plea was declined by the bench.
The
petitioners, including law student Aastha Sharma, had submitted that under Rule
10 of HC's RTI Rules, the application fee is Rs 50 and Rs 5 per page for
photocopies of information sought. The application fee under the parent RTI Act
is Rs 10 and for photocopies Rs 2.
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