TMI Blog2020 (3) TMI 1440X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tc. The third parties who are not parties in any of the proceedings, shall not be given the copies of judgments and other documents without the order of the Assistant Registrar. As per Rule 151 of the Gujarat High Court Rules, the applications requesting for copies of documents/judgments made by third parties, shall be accompanied by an affidavit stating the grounds for which they are required. The object of the RTI Act itself recognizes the need to protect the institutional interest and also to make optimum use of limited fiscal resources and preservation of confidentiality of sensitive information. The procedure to obtain certified copies under the High Court Rules is not cumbersome and the procedure is very simple - filing of an application/affidavit along with the requisite court fee stating the reasons for seeking the information. The information held by the High Court on the judicial side are the personal information of the litigants like title cases and family court matters, etc. Under the guise of seeking information under the RTI Act, the process of the court is not to be abused and information not to be misused. The information held by the High Court on the judic ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... R. Banumathi, A.S. Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy, JJ. For the Appellant : A.N.S. Nadkarni, ASG (A.C.) For the Respondents : Pritesh Kapoor, Sr. Adv., Salvador Santosh Rebello, Suhasini Sen, A. Raul, Neeleshwar Pavani, Riya Soni, Akansha Jain, Shivikka Agarwal, Arvind Kumar Sharma, Kabir Hathi, Shikha Sandhu, Sadhana Sandhu, Jesal Wahi, Aniruddha P. Mayee, A. Rajarajan, Sanjeev Kumar Choudhary, Prashant Bhushan, Pranav Sachdeva, Neha Rathi, Jatin Bhardwaj, Rahul Gupta, Advs. and Alice Raj, Adv. JUDGMENT R. Banumathi, J. 1. Leave granted. 2. The point falling for determination in this appeal is as regards the right of a third party to apply for certified copies to be obtained from the High Court by invoking the provisions of Right to Information Act without resorting to Gujarat High Court Rules prescribed by the High Court. 3. Brief facts which led to filing of this appeal are as follows: An RTI application dated 05.04.2010 was filed by Respondent No. 2 seeking information pertaining to the following cases-Civil Application No. 5517 of 2003 and Civil Application No. 8072 of 1989 along with all relevant documents and certified copies. In reply, by lett ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on sought by Respondent No. 2 within twenty days. 6. Challenging the order of Chief Information Commissioner, Respondent No. 1 filed Special Civil Application No. 7880 of 2013 before the High Court. The learned Single Judge, while admitting the petition, passed an interim order dated 11.10.2013 directing Respondent No. 1 to provide the information sought by Respondent No. 2 within four weeks. The learned Single Judge held that the legality and validity of the direction given by the Appellant and the right of Respondent No. 2 to receive the copies under RTI Act will be considered at the stage of final hearing. It was however clarified that supply of information by Respondent No. 1 shall not be construed as acceptance of applicability of RTI Act to the High Court. 7. Being aggrieved by the interim order, Respondent No. 1-High Court preferred Letters Patent Appeal No. 1348 of 2013 before the Division Bench contending that the party who seeks certified copies has to make an application along with the copying charges and requisite court fees stamp as per Rules 149 to 154 of the Gujarat High Court Rules. As per the Rules, if the certified copy is sought by a person who is not a par ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ment or State Legislature or any other authority, the former must prevail. It was submitted that Section 22 of the RTI Act specifically provides that the provisions of the RTI Act will have an overriding effect over any other laws for the time being in force. The learned Senior Counsel submitted that the High Court Rules have been framed in exercise of the powers Under Article 225 of the Constitution of India which would be subject to any other law and the non-obstante Clause in Section 22 of the RTI Act shows that the provisions of the RTI Act would override the High Court Rules. The learned Senior Counsel inter alia relied upon the recent judgment of the Constitution Bench in Central Public Information Officer, Supreme Court of India v. Subhash Chandra Agrawal 2019 (16) SCALE 40. 10. Mr. Prashant Bhushan, learned Counsel appearing for the intervenors submitted that there can be no apprehension that allowing an applicant to seek information from the High Court under RTI Act can prejudicially affect the privacy/rights of other parties or the administration of justice. Reiterating the submission of Senior counsel, Mr. Preetesh Kapoor, Mr. Prashant Bhushan submitted that Rule 151 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... not party to the litigation are concerned, the same is also provided under the Rules, if the third party files an affidavit stating the reasonable grounds to receive such information/certified copies. The learned amicus submitted that there is no inconsistency between the RTI Act and the Rules framed by the High Court so as to furnish information. It was also submitted that although Section 22 of the RTI Act has an overriding effect over any other laws, in case there are inconsistencies, Section 22 of the RTI Act does not contemplate to override those legislations which also aim to ensure access to information. The learned amicus submitted that so far as the information on the judicial side of the High Court, the Rules framed by the High Court provide for dissemination of information to third party as per the High Court Rules by filing an application with requisite fee and filing an affidavit stating the grounds. Insofar as the information on the administrative side of the High Court, the learned amicus submitted that access to such information could be had through the Rules framed by the various High Courts and the Rules framed under the RTI Act by the High Courts. Drawing our att ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nstituted,-- (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any-- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government Organisation substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; 16. Section 2(i) of the RTI Act defines record which is an inclusive definition. Section 2(j) explains right to information . Sections 2(i) and 2(j) of the RTI Act read as under: 2. Definitions. - In this Act, unless, the context otherwise requires,- ......... (i) record includes-- (i) any document, manuscript and file; (ii) any microfilm, microfiche and facsimile copy of a document; (iii) any reproduction of image or images embodied in such microfilm (whether enlarged or not); and (iv) any other material produced by a computer or any other device; (j) right to information means the right to information accessible under this Act which is held by or under the control of any public authority and include ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Court of India to furnish information as to the assets declared by the Hon'ble Judges of the Supreme Court. The Constitution Bench held that such disclosure would not, in any way, impinge upon the personal information and right to privacy of the Judges. The fiduciary relationship Rule in terms of Section 8(1)(e) of the RTI Act was held inapplicable. Learned Counsel appearing for the parties extensively relied upon the observations of the Supreme Court in Subhash Chandra Agarwal. Since the issue before us is the High Court Rules vis-a-vis., the RTI Act, we do not propose to refer the various observations copiously relied upon by the learned Counsel appearing for the parties. 19. Article 124 relates to the establishment and constitution of the Supreme Court. Article 124 states that the Supreme Court of India consist of Chief Justice of India and other Judges. Under Article 145 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court may, from time to time, with the approval of the President, make Rules for regulating generally the Practice and Procedure of the Court. In exercise of the powers Under Article 145 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court has framed Supreme Court Rules . Order XIII ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... de by third parties, shall be accompanied by an affidavit stating the grounds for which they are required. Rule 151 reads as under: 151. Parties to proceedings entitled to copies; application by third parties to be accompanied by affidavits. Copies of documents in any Civil or Criminal Proceedings and copies of judgment of the High Court shall not be given to persons other than the parties thereto without the order of the Assistant Registrar. Applications for copies of documents or judgment made by third parties shall be accompanied by an affidavit stating the grounds on which they are required, provided that such affidavit shall be dispensed with in case of applications made by or on behalf of the Government of the Union, the Government of any State or the Government of any foreign State. 22. The learned amicus has obtained information from various High Courts as to the procedure followed by the High Courts for furnishing certified copies of orders/judgments/documents. As per the Rules framed by various High Courts, parties to the proceedings are entitled to obtain certified copies of orders/judgments/documents on filing of application along with prescribed court fees stam ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... enior Counsel further submitted that Section 22 of the RTI Act specifically provides that the provisions of the RTI Act will have an overriding effect over other laws for the time being in force. It was therefore, submitted that in the event of any conflict between the provisions of the RTI Act and any other laws made by the Parliament or a State Legislature or any other authority, the provisions of the RTI Act must prevail and therefore, the RTI Act would prevail over the Rules framed by the High Court. Mr. Prashant Bhushan, learned Counsel for the intervention applicants also reiterated the same submission. 24. In order to consider the contentions urged by the learned Senior Counsel for the Appellant and Mr. Prashant Bhushan, let us briefly refer to the various categories of information held by the High Court, which are broadly as under: (a) information held by the High Court relating to the parties to the litigation/proceedings - pleadings, documents and other materials and memo of grounds raised by the parties; (b) orders and judgments passed by the High Court, notes of proceedings, etc.; (c) In exercise of power of superintendence over the other courts and tri ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ted to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority....... . The Act was enacted by keeping in view the right of an informed citizenry and transparency of information which are vital to its functioning and also to contain corruption and to hold Governments and their instrumentalities accountable to the governed..... . The preamble opens with a reference to the Constitution having established a democratic republic and the need therefore, for an informed citizenry. The preamble reveals that legislature was conscious of the likely conflict with other public interest including efficient operations of the Governments and optimum use of limited fiscal resources and the preservation of confidentiality of sensitive information and the necessity to harmonise these conflicting interests. A citizen of India has every right to ask for any information subject to the limitation prescribed under the Act. The right to seek information is only to fulfill the objectives of the Act laid down in the preamble, that is, to promote transparency of information. 27. Rule 151 of the Gujarat High Court Rules, 1993 requires a third party applicant seeking copies of doc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... details disclosed by an Assessee in his Income Tax Return. As held in Girish Ramchandra Deshpande v. Central Information Commissioner and Ors. (2013) 1 SCC 212, the details disclosed by a person in his Income Tax Return are personal information which stands exempted from disclosure unless it involves a larger public interest and the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information. While seeking information or certified copies of the documents, the High Court Rules which require the third party to a proceeding to file an affidavit stating the reasons for seeking the information, the same cannot be said to be inconsistent with the provisions of the RTI Act in as much as the rejection if any, made thereafter will be for the very reasons as stipulated in Section 8 of the RTI Act. 30. Considering the implementation of RTI Act and observing that the existing mechanism for invoking the said right should be preserved and operated, in Institute of Chartered Accountants of India v. Shaunak H. Satya and Ors. (2011) 8 SCC 781, the Supreme Court held as under: 24. One of the objects of democracy is to bring about transparency of information to contain corruption and b ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e purport of the RTI Act to provide additional mode for accessing information with the public authorities which has already formulated Rules and schemes for making the said information available. Certainly if the said rules, Regulations and schemes do not provide for accessing information which has been made accessible under the RTI Act, resort can be had to the provision of the RTI Act but not to duplicate or to multiply the modes of accessing information. 54. This Court is further of the opinion that if any information can be accessed through the mechanism provided under another statute, then the provisions of the RTI Act cannot be resorted to as there is absence of the very basis for invoking the provisions of RTI Act, namely, lack of transparency. In other words, the provisions of RTI Act are not to be resorted to if the same are not actuated to achieve transparency. 55. Section 2(j) of the RTI Act reveals that the said Act is concerned only with that information, which is under the exclusive control of the 'public authority'. Providing copies/certified copies is not separate from providing information. The SCR not only deal with providing 'certified cop ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t aspects of working of a public authority is therefore, an essential component of information regime. The judgments and orders passed by the High Courts are all available in the website of the respective High Courts and any person can have access to these judgments and orders. Likewise, the status of the pending cases and the orders passed by the High Courts in exercise of its power Under Section (sic Article) 235 of the Constitution of India i.e. control over the subordinate courts like transfers, postings and promotions are also made available in the website. In order to maintain the confidentiality of the documents and other information pertaining to the litigants to the proceedings and to maintain proper balance, Rules of the High Court insist upon the third party to file an application/affidavit to obtain information/certified copies of the documents, lest such application would reach unmanageable proportions apart from the misuse of such information. 34. Section 22 of the RTI Act lays down that the provisions of the RTI Act shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in the Official Secrets Act, 1923, and any other law for the time being in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... what is the special law and which law in case of conflict would prevail would have arisen and that would have necessitated the application of the principle generalia specialibus non derogant . The general Rule to be followed in case of conflict between the two statutes is that the later abrogates the earlier one. In other words, a prior special law would yield to a later general law, if either of the two following conditions is satisfied: (i) The two are inconsistent with each other. (ii) There is some express reference in the later to the earlier enactment. If either of these two conditions is fulfilled, the later law, even though general, would prevail. 37. As pointed out earlier, Section 31 of the RTI Act repeals only the Freedom of Information Act, 2002 and not other laws. If the intention of the legislature was to repeal any other Acts or laws which deal with the dissemination of information to an applicant, then the RTI Act would have clearly specified so. In the absence of any provision to this effect, the provisions of the RTI Act cannot be interpreted so as to attribute a meaning to them which was not intended by the legislature. In the RTI Act, there ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the rights and liabilities of the parties to the litigation. Under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, the Central Public Information Officer or the appellate authority may order disclosure of personal information if they are satisfied that the larger public interest justifies disclosure. Insofar as the High Court Rules are concerned, if the information or certified copies of the documents/record of proceedings/orders on the judicial side of the Court is required, all that the third party is required to do is to file an application/affidavit stating the reasons for seeking such information. On being satisfied about the reasons for requirement of the certified copy/disclosure of information, the Court or the concerned Officer would order for grant of certified copies. As discussed earlier, Order XIII Rule 3 of the Supreme Court Rules also stipulate the same procedure insofar as the third party seeking certified copy of the documents/records. 41. Yet another contention advanced is that the information held by the High Court may be furnished to the applicant by following the procedure Under Section 11 of the RTI Act. Section 11 of the Act deals with third party information. As per Sect ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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