Filing RTI at Delhi HC just got easier! 

The court has done amendments to its RTI rules to bring it in tune with the RTI act 2005

I cover issues related to the Right to Information act for Governance Now. Share Good news for those who wish to seek information from the Delhi High Court using the RTI act. 
Now, there is a provision to submit the RTI application fee through demand draft. In the original set of Delhi High Court (RTI) rules 2006, the applicant could pay the fees only through cash. 
Also, the time- slot of 2pm to 4pm has been added to the previous timings of 11 to 1pm to file RTI applications. 
According to rule 10(b), the applicant had to pay Rs 5 per age as the cost of information and Rs 10 per page if the required information was urgent. The ‘urgency’ clause has been removed. In other words, one has to Pay Rs 5 per page to obtain information. 
All the amendments have been published in the Delhi gazette giving them legal sanction. 
In September last year, Anoop Prakash, RTI Fellow at the Centre for Civil Society, wrote to nine high courts that their RTI rules were ultra vires of the enabling Act i.e. Right to Information Act 2005. “It is humbly submitted that some of the RTI rules as framed by Hon’ble High Court in its administrative capacity, have no statutory peg on which to hang them, hence these rules are liable to be amended to the extent of error,” read the letter. 
In December, he got a reply from the Patna High Court saying that it had considered his suggestions and had made certain changes in its RTI rules accordingly. 
Punjab and Haryana High Court also made changes in its RTI rules after consider the points Prakash had raised in his letter. 
On Friday, Pakash got a letter from the Delhi High Court informing him that the court had considered the errors cited by him. 
“I am going to file writ petitions in those courts which have not responded to my presentation. If we go by the present rules, it becomes very difficult to file RTI applications. These rules must be changed,” Prakash told Governance Now. 

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