As of now, information disclosure related to a person’s own case could be applied to the Supreme Court under the RTI Act. But in case the information related to judicial matters of a third party, the SC had ruled that application must be made under court rules. Rule 2 of the SC Rules says the applicant must establish "good cause" before disclosure is made, which according to the CIC goes against the RTI Act.
In his order, information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi said that he disagreed with former chief information commissioner Wajahat Habibullah’s decision.
His order said, "This bench further rules that all citizens have the right to access information under Section 3 of the RTI Act and PIOs shall provide the information sought to the citizens, subject always to the provisions of the RTI Act only."
He added, "It is the citizen’s prerogative to decide under which mechanism, that is under the method prescribed by the public authority or the RTI Act, he would like to obtain the information."
The decision came after Gurgaon resident R S Mishra had asked for information related to letters he had written to the SC. The apex court had denied the information on the argument that the SC had a specific provision by which information was furnished under Order XII of the SC Rules and hence, information relating to judicial matters could be provided only under that provision. The SC PIO further argued that since the then chief information commissioner had upheld this contention, their arguments before this commission were already covered under the said decisions.