SC mandates all SICs to conduct hybrid hearings under RTI Act

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday stressed that all State Information Commissions (SICs) established under the Right to Information (RTI) Act should make it mandatory to provide the option of both physical and virtual hearings to all litigants.

A bench of CJI D Y Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said that the existing procedure for conducting appeals and complaints before the SICs should be supplemented with cost-effective and time-efficient technological solutions, adding that link for availing hybrid hearings must be made available on the daily cause list of the quasi-judicial bodies.

The bench also asked all SICs to have the facility of e-filing of the appeals and appeals to ensure ease of access to justice under Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005.

It asked the CIC (Central Information Commission) and SICs to serve notices electronically of second appeals upon the Public Information Officers (PIOs) to mitigate any delays caused by traditional postal methods.

The top court said that all ministries and departments will take steps within a period of one month to compile the email addresses of all Central and State PIOs.

“The use of technology is no longer an option. Property deployed for conducting hybrid/virtual hearings, technology has a potential to ensure access to justice by obviating the need for citizens to travel long distances to secure the right of being heard,” it said.

The plea filed by KC Jain, an advocate and RTI activist, said that the obligatory requirement of physical hearings imposed by several SICs is profoundly unjust, unreasonable, and arbitrary.

It said that applicants seeking information are burdened with the arduous task of traveling long distances to reach the SICs, resulting in significant costs and numerous hardships and as a consequence, a considerable majority of RTI applicants are compelled to abandon their efforts to obtain information by filing second appeals or complaints before the SICs.

“It is highly incongruous for individuals belonging to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category of society to be compelled to undertake extensive travel for hearings before the SICs, especially considering that the legislature has exempted them from paying even the application fee under the provisions of the RTI Act,” the plea added.