Supreme Court Soon To Have Online Portal For Filing RTI Applications and First Appeals

During the course of hearing a plea seeking mechanism to set up an online portal for the Supreme Court for e-filing Right to Information (RTI) applications and first appeals, on Friday, Supreme Court Judge, Justice Chandrachud, who is also the Chairperson of the E-Committee of the Apex Court, on Friday, indicated that the online RTI portal is almost ready. He noted that the public interest litigation (PIL) raises a pertinent concern. "It is almost ready. It is actually a valuable point." He also stated that he would write to the High Courts asking them to follow the mechanism set out by the Apex Court to make information about the courts more accessible to the public at large. "As Chairperson of the E-committee, I'll also write to the High Courts so that they can follow it." As Advocate, Mr. Prashant Bhushan appearing for the petitioner mentioned the issue raised in the petition, Justice Chandrachud informed him that the process of setting up the concerned mechanism was underway and posted the matter for hearing after Diwali vacations. The PIL, filed by two law students, Akriti Agarwal and Lakshya Purohit sought directions to the respondents including the Supreme Court through its Secretary-General, Supreme Court's E-committee and the National Informatics Centre to set up an online RTI Portal in a time-bound manner. The petition filed through Advocate Neha Rathi has argued that the Supreme Court of India, despite being a "public authority" under Section 2(h) of the Right to Information Act 2005, has not created a portal since the enactment of the RTI Act. The petition submitted that though an efficient mechanism for e-filing of petitions is now in place, there is no mechanism to e-file RTI application. Representations had been made to the concerned authorities of the Apex Court to create such a portal, but it has not fructified. It argues that the concerned authority's inaction is causing delay and denying access to speedy information and justice. "In the current pandemic COVID-19, the entire nation has been constrained in terms of physical movement and accessing post offices for filing of RTI Applications. This is acting as a serious hurdle in accessing information and access to justice and leads to violation of fundamental rights of the citizens, guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) & Article 21 respectively of the Constitution of India," the plea states. The petition cites the Supreme Court's order in the case of Pravasi Legal Cell v. Union of India And Ors. saying that the Court has recognised the legal mandate of Online RTI Portal for State Governments and also issued notice dated 26.08.2019. Recently, a Bench led by Chief Justice U.U. Lalit dismissed a similar petition. The PIL sought directions to the respondents including the Supreme Court through its Secretary-General, Supreme Court's E-committee and the National Informatics Centre to set up an online RTI Portal in a time-bound manner and argued that the Supreme Court of India, despite being a "public authority" under Section 2(h) of the Right to Information Act 2005, had not created such a portal since the enactment of the RTI Act. At the outset, CJI Lalit remarked that– "This is the brief which the E-committee of the Supreme Court is looking into. These are rights which definitely flow in favour of somebody but that is the technical advancement which is being undertaken by the courts all over the country. It is a process which is going on. Perhaps, I think, in the process, 0-100, you cannot achieve that progress in one go. Therefore, we are marching in the direction. These kind of petitions, this is a good exercise, good research but we cannot entertain it." Accordingly, the bench passed the following order– "Considering the nature of the relief that is being prayed for, in our view the proceedings initiated under Article 32 of the Indian Constitution may not be the appropriate remedy. We therefore, refuse to entertain this petition. Consequently, the petition stands dismissed." Click Here To Read/Download Order

Supreme Court Soon To Have Online Portal For Filing RTI Applications and First Appeals

Sohini Chowdhury

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