After RTI Activist Flags Vacancies In Information Commissions, Supreme Court Seeks Data From Centre & States On CIC/SICs

The Supreme Court today called on the Centre and states to furnish data regarding vacancies in Central/State Information Commissions as well as the proposed timelines for appointment of Information Commissioners thereto.A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan passed the order in a PIL raising the issue of large number of vacancies in information commissions set up under the Right...

Supreme Court Issues Notice On PIL To Allow Virtual Hearing Access In CIC Through Direct Links

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (September 17) sought response from the Union in a PIL seeking directions to Central Information Commission to give access to virtual hearings by issuing direct court links. The Petitioner in Person, Advocate Kishan Chand Jain in his plea stressed that the Central Information Commission (CIC), has nationwide...

Disclosing Govt Employee's University Name Does Not Serve Public Interest, Exempted Under Section 8(1)(j) RTI Act: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has held that withholding the names of the institutes or universities attended by current employees of a public authority is justified under Section 8(1)(j) of the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act). This is because disclosure of such information does not serve a broader public interest and further infringes on...

Chief Information Commissioner Has Power To Form Benches & Frame Regulations For Smooth Functioning Of Central Information Commission: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court recently held that the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) has the power to form benches and frame regulations for the effective management of the affairs of the Central Information Commission under Section 12(4) of the Right to Information Act, 2005.A bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma held...

Registrar Of Co-Operative Societies Is 'Public Authority', Expected To Provide Information Not Exempted Under RTI Act: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court has held that the Registrar of Co-operative Societies is a public authority under the Right To Information Act. It stated that Registrar, being a public authority could gather and disclose information obtained from the Co-operative Society under his administrative or supervisory control to the extent permitted by law.In this...

SBI Refuses To Disclose In RTI Response Fees Paid To Sr Adv Harish Salve In Electoral Bonds Case

The State Bank of India (SBI) has declined to disclose the legal fees paid to advocate Harish Salve for representing the bank in the electoral bonds case, citing exemptions under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. In response to an RTI query from activist Commodore Lokesh Batra, SBI stated that the requested information is exempt from disclosure...

CIC Expresses 'Severe Displeasure' At Election Commission For Not Responding To RTI On EVMs For More Than A Year

The Central Information Commission (CIC)in its recent Order has criticized the Election Commission of India (ECI) while expressing "severe displeasure" for failing to respond to a Right to Information (RTI) Act request regarding Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) for over a year. The RTI inquiry requested information regarding the actions taken by...

RTI Act Will Become ‘Dead Letter’ : Supreme Court Directs States, Union To Fill Vacancies In Information Commissions

The Supreme Court today (October 30) expressed its dissatisfaction with the failure of States and the Union to fill up the vacancies of Information Commissions across the country. The court directed the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) to prepare a chart on the number of vacancies and number of appeals/complaints in all the commissions....

Intelligence Bureau Exempt From Rigours Of RTI Act: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has ruled that the Intelligence Bureau (IB) stands exempted from rigours of RTI Act by virtue of Section 24 (Act not to apply to certain organizations) thereof.The issue had arisen when the Appellant appeared for Assistant Central Intelligence Officer Grade-II Examination conducted by IB in 2017, but his name did not appear in...

Husband Can Seek 'Generic Income Details' Of Estranged Wife Through RTI To Corroborate Evidence In Maintenance Case: CIC

In a recent ruling, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed a Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) to provide a man with the “generic details of the net taxable income/gross income” of his wife for the specified time period as contained in his RTI Application.Information Commissioner Saroj Punhani relied on Rahmat Bano vs Chief...

Can't Invoke Article 226 To Impose Penalties U/S 20 RTI Act Against Information Officers: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court has recently held that writ jurisdiction under Article 226 cannot be invoked to impose penalties against the Information Officers under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI).Justice Murali Purushothaman ruled that the Central Information Commission or the State Information Commission was the competent authority under...

Employee Can Access Colleague's Service Records Under RTI Act To Pursue Service Litigation : Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court has set aside an order passed by the State Information Commissioner rejecting an application filed by a college professor seeking service record details of his colleague. A single bench of Justice Krishna S Dixit allowed the petition filed by A S Mallikarjunaswamy and set aside the of Commission whereby his RTI application...