NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has held that both Indian citizens and non-citizens have access to the Right to Information (RTI), observing that restricting non-citizens would be against both the RTI Act and the spirit of the Indian Constitution.
Justice Prathiba M Singh said, “This court is of the opinion that the RTI ought to be available to citizens and non-citizens depending upon the kind of information which is sought and the recognition of the rights guaranteed to such class of persons under the Constitution.”
The order was followed by a plea moved by one AS Rawat, posted as Public Information Officer at Central Tibetan Schools Administration challenging an order of the Central Information Commission imposing a penalty of Rs 2,500 on him. Rawat denied information to a teacher, Dawa Tashi, citing his ‘Nationality is Tibetan’. Tashi, in his RTI application sought information on his confirmation letter as well as other benefits from the CTSA.
Later, CIC termed Rawat’s conduct as ‘mala fide’ and malicious and imposed a penalty on him. In the order, the court said, “Creating an absolute bar (against non-citizens) would be contrary to the purpose and object of the RTI Act itself, and such an absolute bar cannot be read into the RTI Act.”
It added, “The view of the Parliamentary Committee which discussed the Bill and favoured retention of the right only to citizens appears to have been based on a misconception that Fundamental Rights under the Constitution are only available to citizens, which was a wrong premise.”
It further added, “Thus, this court is of the opinion that the Right to Information ought to be available to citizens and non-citizens depending upon the kind of information which is sought and the recognition of the rights guaranteed to such class of persons under the Constitution of India.”