Out of turn hearing at CIC in case of Senior citizens

Background

A senior citizen abandoned by his children wanted to know if the Supreme Court of India and the Delhi High Court had issued any order or instruction with regard to Chapter VI of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007. The Public Information Officer (PIO) of the Supreme Court replied that they could not locate any such case on particular chapter. The appellant was referred to the website of the Supreme Court where all its judgments were available for public scrutiny.

View of CIC

As the appellant was a senior citizen he urged the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) to take up the case out of turn which was accepted by the Commission in order to expedite an early decision. The Commission noted the categorical reply of the PIO that no such order could be traced from the database of the Supreme Court. Therefore, there is very little that could be done under the Right to Information (RTI) Act to help him. The Commission further stated that they cannot compel the PIO of either the Delhi High Court or the Supreme Court of India to help expedite the disposal of any pending litigation in any subordinate court of India. The appeal was rejected on the grounds of non existence of the database.

Citation: Shri Krishan Chander v Supreme Court of India in File no.  CIC/SM/A/2011/001463