Live Law: New Delhi: Sunday, August
07, 2016.
In an
important order, the Central Information Commission has held that
note/notings/deliberations relating to framing of Supreme Court Rules are not
exempted under Section 8(1) of the Right to Information Act.
RTI
application filed by Mr. Satya Narain Shukla, was rejected by CPIO of Supreme
Court Registry on the ground that notes and orders relating to framing of the
Supreme Court Rules pertains to the deliberations made in the Full Court
Meeting and the disclosures of the same would render the system unworkable in
practice and hence exempted under Section 8(1)(g) of the RTI Act, 2005. The
CPIO of Supreme Court Registry also contended that the primary role of the
Court is dispensation of justice and the deliberations made in the full Court
meeting for framing the Rules is in the form of assistance given in confidence
for law enforcement and thus exempted.
Chief
Information Commissioner Sri. Radha Krishna Mathur, allowing the appeal,
observed:
“The framing
of Rules is a legislative function and it is neither a judicial function nor it
has any concern with any security measures. The note/notings/deliberations
relating to framing of Rules cannot be termed as assistance given in the
confidence for law enforcement. This can relate to payment for informers by
police, IB and CBI etc.”
The
Commission held :
“The
respondent is directed to provide to the appellant, information in context of
point no. 2 of his RTI application, after removing from the notings and
correspondence, (a) the date of the noting and the letter, as the case may be;
(b) the name and designation of the person recording the noting and writing the
letter and; (c) any other indication in the noting and/or correspondence which
may reveal or tend to reveal the identity of author of the noting/letter, as
the case may be.