This plea which was filed in 2020 prayed for the formulation of guidelines to fix a timeline for deciding on first and second appeals and complaints filed under the RTI Act, specifically with respect to information sought concerning life and liberty.
The Madras High Court conceded to hear a Public Interest Litigation calling for the formation of a Special Bench of the concerned Information Commission to deal with Right to Information requests related to information on the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy was dealing with this plea.
Factual Background
The matter was not heard for several months, the Counsel bought to the notice of the Court that there is a lot of relevant information concerning the pandemic with the Central Information Commission. It was also stated that the information sought concerns life and liberty.
Case of the Petitioner
The petitioner bought to the notice of the Court that there needs to be a proper formulation of set guidelines in order to deal with the first and second appeals filed under the provisions of the RTI Act. The same concern is with respect to the complaints. The petitioner stated that due to the absence of a fixed timeline, the pendency of cases before the State and Central Information Commissions have become difficult to manage.
It was further added that there should be an establishment of Special Benches of the Central and State Information Commissions for COVID- 19 and all pandemic related cases so that the cases are disposed of in a speedy manner i.e. within the stipulated period of 15 days to the maximum.
“The authorities very rarely provide information within 48 hours in cases concerning life and liberty. The difficulties are further highlighted by the fact that there is no separate procedure in place to accept applications concerning life and liberty as per Section 6(3) the nodal officer can take up to 5 days to transfer the RTI to the PIO, defeating the very purpose of the 48 hour deadline”.
“In light of the current Covid-19 pandemic and the pressing need for speedy information, it reiterated that the difficulties are further heightened by the fact that there is no separate procedure in place to accept applications concerning life and liberty and therefore as per Section 6(3), the nodal officer can take up to 5 days to transfer the RTI to the PIO, defeating the very purpose of the 48 hour deadline. In such cases relating to the Covid-19 pandemic, I submit that a special bench may be constituted at the Commission level, such that these time- sensitive cases may be heard on priority basis and in accordance to life and liberty cases in spirit of the legislation", the petition reads.
Case Details
Before: Madras High Court
Case Title: Saurav Das v. Union of India
Coram: Hon’ble Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy
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