SC Issues Notice To Both Centre And States To Establish RTI Portals To Enable People To File RTI Applications Online

The Supreme Court has issued notice both to the centre and state governments on a petition seeking to establish Right to Information (RTI) portals in order to enable people to file online RTI applications to seek information from any government department.

A bench headed by Justice N V Ramana issued the order after hearing the plea filed by an NGO called Pravasi Legal Cell through its lawyer Jose Abraham.

The NGO, which seeks to empower migrant people including Non Resident Indians (NRIs) on the legal front, sought a direction to all state governments to provide the online RTI portal facility to obtain information through the electronic mode.

Describing the RTI Act as a powerful tool, advocate Abraham said the true objective of the legislation could be achieved only by timely response to citizens' request for government information when the process was made online.

The petition stated that one of the most effective provisions in the RTI Act is Section 7(1) which states that, “information sought for concerns the life or liberty of a person, the same shall be provided within 48 hours of the receipt of the request”.

However, precisely this section is not effective under the existing system and it severely affects the life and liberty of citizens, the petition stated.

The petitioner told the court that the central government had established an online RTI portal for any Indian citizen including NRIs to seek information under the RTI Act with the desired ministry or department.

This was done in order to enable applicants to pay the fee online and submit their RTI applications through the portal.

Later, the central government directed the state governments in December 2013 to explore the feasibility of implementing online RTI in their respective states, but only the states of Maharashtra and Delhi set up online RTI portals, the petitioner stated.

The lawyer said that a person seeking information now has to make a physical application. Also, the applicant has to obtain a postal order by visiting the post office and paying a fee for the RTI application.

Such a process is also difficult for Non-Resident Indians (NRI) desirous of obtaining information from departments of state governments at present, since they have to undergo the physical application process, the petitioner stated.