The AP High Court was pulled up by the Central Information Commission (CIC) for its failure to adhere to the RTI Act. Nine other high courts besides AP's have been given three months time to get their act right. The CIC was reacting to a complaint filed by Hyderabad-based RTI activist C J Karira and Mani Ram Sharma of Rajasthan between December 2009 and March 2010. The complainants had stated that there was no disclosure of information under section 4 (1) (b) of the RTI Act by the courts. The case came up for hearing on December 30, 2011 and the order was passed on Thursday, ordering the high courts to fall in line within three months.
As per section 4 (1) (b), every government department should disclose complete details of the organization, employees, decisions taken by it and budget, among other details. According to the Act, this information should be updated as frequently as possible and made available to public by whatever means possible, including internet.
Apart from the AP High Court, the high courts of Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Allahabad, Madras, Guwahati, Punjab & Haryana and Sikkim were directed to start complying with the rule. However, since the Guwahati HC had recently updated all the details in conformity with the RTI Act, it was appreciated by the CIC and suggested that the court model could be emulated by others.
The complainant, Karira said, "For the past six years, from the time the RTI Act was introduced in 2005, the AP High Court has never abided by the section 4 (1) (b). The court has not provided the details related to it and its employees either on the internet or manually.
This section not only introduces transparency in the system but informs the public with clarity about the officials and the functioning of a department." Karira also expressed his disappointment that most of the departments in the state government were not following this particular section.
