Complaint against Chhattisgarh High Court

Background

The Appellant claimed that a lot of irregularity had occurred in the judicial services examination conducted by the Chhattisgarh High Court and he wanted the Supreme Court to look into the matter. He filed a RTI application with the Supreme Court of India complaining against the High Court of Chhattisgarh and wanted the opinion on whether the High Court should have conducted such an examination instead of the State Public Service Commission. The Public Information Officer (PIO) claimed that it is not within the scope of duty of the PIO to offer any opinion or advice or to interpret the law. The Appellate Authority (FAA) endorsed the decision of the PIO.

View of CIC

The Central information Commission (CIC) suggested that if the appellant has any complaint against the Chhattisgarh High Court, the CIC is not the forum to raise that complaint; neither is the PIO of the Supreme Court of India competent to sit in judgment over the action of the Chhattisgarh High Court to decide whether the judicial services examination had been conducted rightly or wrongly. There is a settled procedure to take up such matters judicially and legally. The Commission rejected the appeal stating that the appellant has not sought any information or a record/document which the PIO could have provided and that it was nothing more than a complaint in the disguise of a right to information application.

Citation: Shri Arif Rokariya v. Supreme Court of India in File No. CIC/SM/A/2011/000383