RTI application to cost Rs 50 in Jammu & Kashmir
27 Jul, 2012The General Administration Department of the Jammu and Kashmir (J & K) Government has asked all the administrative secretaries to charge the fee as per the Rule 4 of J&K RTI Rules, 2010 from an RTI applicant. Hence forth, the Jammu and Kashmir Government will now once again be charging Rs. 50/- as fee along with an application under Right to Information Act.
Earlier, the public authorities of the J & K government had started charging a fee as under:
- application fee of Rs. 10/- under Rule 4 of J&K RTI Rules, 2010,
- Rs. 2/- under Rule 5 (a), for each page in A-4 or A-3 size paper,
- Rs. 10/- for each page in legal size paper created or copied, and
- Rs. 40/- per diskette or floppy and Rs 50 per compact disc under Rule 6.
This fee structure was prescribed by Jammu and Kashmir High Court in its interim order dated 02.03.2012 passed in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) BR Manhas Vs State. The Department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, vide their U.0 No. LD (Lit) 2011/57-GAD dated 16.07.2012, has intimated that High Court has disposed of the Writ Petition (PIL) No. 2812011 titled B.R. Manhas Vs State and Ors vide its judgment dated: 20.04.2012 where under interim order dated: 02.03.2012 stands vacated. All the Administrative Secretaries have been requested to direct the concerned authorities under their Administrative control to charge fee, strictly as per the rates specified in RTI Rules, 2010.