Chief Information Commissioner Vs High Court of Gujarat and Anr, CIVIL APPEAL NO(S).1966-1967 OF 2020 (Arising out of SLP(C) No.5840 of 2015) - Synopsis
Team SoOLEGAL 17 Jun 2021

The Gujarat HC order which stated that it’s the high court’s power to govern the issuance of certified copies of documents prevailing under the Right to Information Act was challenged by the Gujarat Information Commission and the Chief Information Commission. The court had held that, at the point when a duplicate copy is requested by any individual the equivalent must be as per the principles of the high court regarding the matter. As mentioned in Rule 151 of the Gujarat High Court Rules, 1993, it is necessary to file an affidavit that would declare the reasons, as to why, the third party is seeking a copy of the documents. Thereafter, two issues were addressed by the court: firstly, whether Rule 151 was in any way conflicting with provisions of the RTI Act. Secondly, when there are two apparatuses to give data– one under the High Court Rules and the RTI Act, without any irregularity in the High Court Rules, regardless of whether the arrangements of RTI Act can be depended on or not for acquiring guaranteed data.


Addressing the above issues, the court held that, Rule 151 of the Gujarat High Court Rules, stating the prerequisite of filing an affidavit consisting of the reasons, to access data or copies of documents was in no sense conflicting with the provisions of the RTI Act. The mere difference in both the Acts was the procedure relating to the payment of fees or practice. The reasoning of the court stated: "The non-obstante clause of the RTI Act does not mean an implied repeal of the High Court Rules and Orders framed under Article 225 of the Constitution of India, but only has an overriding effect in case of inconsistency. A special enactment or rule cannot be held to be overridden by a later general enactment simply because the latter opens up with a non-obstante clause, unless there is clear inconsistency between the two legislations." So, without intrinsic irregularity between the provisions of the RTI Act and other law, superseding impact of RTI Act would not make a difference.

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