A third party cannot apply for certified copies from the High Court by invoking the provision of RTI
- shrey singh
- Mar 5, 2020
- 2 min read
Chief Information Commissioner v High Court Of Gujarat
CIVIL APPEAL NO(S).1966-1967 OF 2020(Arising out of SLP(C) No.5840 of 2015) decided 04.03.2020
Bench: R. Banumathi, A.S. Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy, JJ.
Question of Law
Whether a third party can apply for certified copies from the High Court by invoking the provision of Right to Information Act without resorting to rules prescribed by the High Court?
Argument Advanced
Appellant
Respondent
The appellant has contended that Section 6(2) of the RTI Act specifically provides that an applicant making a request for information shall not be required to give reasons for requesting the information sought and whereas under the High Court Rules, applications made by third parties seeking copies of the documents shall be accompanied by an affidavit stating the grounds on which they are required and there is direct inconsistency between the provisions of the RTI Act and the High Court Rules, 1993. It was submitted that in view of the inconsistency between the provisions of the RTI Act and the High Court Rules, harmonious construction between the two is not possible and in the event of conflict between the provisions of RTI Act and any other law made by the Parliament or State Legislature or any other authority, the former must prevail.
The Respondent submitted that so far as the information on the judicial side of the High Court concerned the Rules framed by the High Court provide for dissemination of information to third party as per the High Court Rules by filing an application with requisite fee and filing an affidavit stating the grounds. Insofar as the information on the administrative side of the High Court, it is submitted that access to such information could be had through the Rules framed by the various High Courts and the Rules framed under the RTI Act by the High Courts.
Held
The Supreme Court held that the information to be accessed/certified copies on the judicial side to be obtained through the mechanism provided under the High Court Rules, the provisions of the RTI Act shall not be resorted to. Furthermore, it was held that High Court Rules stipulating a third party to have access to the information/obtaining the certified copies of the documents or orders requires to file an application/affidavit stating the reasons for seeking the information, is not inconsistent with the provisions of the RTI Act; but merely lays down a different procedure as the practice or payment of fees, etc. for obtaining information. In the absence of inherent inconsistency between the provisions of the RTI Act and other law, overriding effect of RTI Act would not apply.
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