New Delhi Apr 20 PTI The Delhi High court on Wednesday sought the Centres stand on a petition concerning the disclosure of information about the selection committee meetings held for the selection of the Chairperson and members of the LokpalJustice Yashwant Varma granted time to the central government counsel to seek instructions and listed the petition by activist Anjali Bhardwaj for further consideration in MayThe petitioner has challenged a January order passed on her RTI application by the Central Information Commission CIC which upheld the decision of the First Appellate Authority FAA denying the supply of the minutes of the meetings of the selection committee constituted under the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act 2013 for the selection of the Chairperson and members of the LokpalThe Central Public Information Officer CPIO of the Department of Personnel and Training DoPT had refused to provide a copy of the minutes on the ground that the authorship of such documents by high-level dignitaries did not vest in the DoPT and that the same had been shared as secret documentsThe petitioner represented by lawyer Prashant Bhushan has contended that withholding information related to the selection of the Lokpal chairperson and members is against the letter and spirit of the Lokpal Act and the RTI Act as the purpose of the ombudsman legislation is to enhance accountability in the functioning of public offices and to effectively contain and punish acts of corruptionThe petitioner has submitted that the access to information can be rejected only on the grounds mentioned in the RTI Act and there is no basis to deny the information sought merely because the authorship vests in high-level dignitaries and not in the public authority or because some document is shared as secretThe petition has further said that transparency in appointment to such oversight bodies is a crucial safeguard against arbitrariness and ensures their independent functioningThe impugned order negates the peoples fundamental right to information regarding the functioning of the State and all its instrumentalities as has been recognized as part of Article 19 I a of the Constitution of India Transparency is the most important value for the functioning of a healthy democracy the petition claimedIt added that the denial of information in the present case is in complete violation of the RTI Act and the principles of transparency in the selection process PTI ADS RKS RKS

Chennai Mar 19 PTI The Madras High Court has slammed a public interest litigant for treating it as a post office in a petition regarding certain recommendations made by the CIC over postal stamps on RTI applications Petitioner S P Muthuraman had moved the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court praying for a direction to the Union government to give effect to one of the recommendations of the Central Information Commission CIC made in August 2013 to permit affixation of postal stamps on the RTI applications in addition to Indian postal orders or demand drafts The first bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice M N Bhandari and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy on Saturday noted that it was only a recommendation and not a direction The petitioner without finding out as to what action was taken by the appropriate authority on the CICs recommendation has moved the High Court by way of this PIL It noted that the petitioner wants the court to conduct a roving and fishing enquiry as to what steps were taken by the respondents based on the CICs recommendation The High Court cannot act as a post office to collect and exchange information This is more so when even according to the petitioner the CIC has only made recommendations that cannot by any stretch of imagination be taken as a statute so as to give effect to it The authorities concerned would have to decide what action should be taken based on the CICs recommendation the bench said In view of the above we do not find any case for grant of relief prayed for by the petitioner The writ petition fails and the same is dismissed the bench added PTI COR HDA HDA