No public body is permitted to take upon itself the role of the legislature
3 Mar, 2013Ref: Karnataka Information Commissioner to pay costs of Rs. 1 lakh for frivolous filing of appeal
The decision of CIC Shri Shailesh Gandhi in following case is also relevant:
Decision No. CIC/SG/A/2010/003545/11147
Appeal No. CIC/SG/A/2010/003545
In the instant case, the information sought by the Appellant was denied on the basis of Rule 7(vi) of the District Court Rules. Rule 7(vi) provides that the PIO will not give information which relates to a judicial proceeding, or judicial functions or the matters incidental or ancillary thereto. On review of the said Rule,the Commission observed that Rule 7(vi) provides for a much wider exemption than that stipulated under Section 8 of the RTI Act. If Rule 7(vi) is to be implemented, it would defeat the purpose of the RTI Act and reading it as valid would be tantamount to adding exemptions to the RTI Act, which were not envisaged by the Parliament. Therefore, the exemption contained in Rule 7(vi) of the District Court Rules cannot be invoked to deny information under the RTI Act as it goes beyond the scope of the exemptions
provided under Section 8 and 9 of the RTI Act. Therefore, the Commission holds that the denial of information by the PIO by relying on the exemption contained in Rule 7(vi) of the District Court Rules is devoid of any merit and he is required to furnish the complete information as sought in the RTI application.
It must be noted that no public body is permitted under the RTI Act to take upon itself the role of the legislature and import new exemptions hitherto not provided. The District Court Rules made by the competent authority under the RTI Act appears to bring in exemptions not provided for in the RTI Act and transgress the exemptions envisaged by the Parliament under Sections 8 and 9 of the RTI Act. Since the right to information is a fundamental right of the citizens, any move which constricts it should be avoided. Even Parliament is very wary of the restrictions it can place on the fundamental right of the citizen and hence competent authorities would be well advised to ensure that they do not create any exemptions which the lawmakers did not provide.
S.P. Manchanda