The Hindu: New Delhi: Thursday,
August 04, 2016.
Framing of
Rules is a legislative function not a judicial function, says CIC.
In a
significant ruling, the Central Information Commission (CIC) on Wednesday held
that notes and orders in the file leading to framing and notification of
Supreme Court Rules, 2013 (which deal with issues related to functioning of
courts) are not exempt from the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act,
2005.
An order by
Chief Information Commissioner Radha Krishna Mathur observed that the notes and
orders are not covered under Section (1)(g) of the RTI Act as ‘assistance given
in confidence for law enforcement or security purposes’.
“The framing
of Rules is a legislative function and it is neither a judicial function nor it
is concerned with any security measures. The note/notings/ deliberations
relating to framing of Rules cannot be termed assistance given in confidence
for law enforcement. The provision can relate to payment to informers by
police, IB and CBI, etc,” the order said.
The
applicant, Satya Narain Shukla from Lucknow, had approached the CIC after his
petition seeking photocopies of notes and orders in the concerned file on
Supreme Court Rules, 2013 prescribing requirement of prior interaction with the
Registrar for permitting a party to appear and argue the case in person was not
entertained.
It was
declined on the ground that the deliberations made in the Full Court meeting
and the disclosures of the same would render the ‘system unworkable n
practice’.
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