Chief Justice DY Chandrachud announced Thursday morning that the Supreme Court’s online Right to Information (RTI) portal will be fully operational as of today.
The portal is expected to make it easier for people to access court information. Currently, RTI applications to the Supreme Court must be submitted by mail.
The Supreme Court of India’s RTI portal went live on Thursday, following an announcement by CJI DY Chandrachud. This portal will assist people in filing RTI applications to gain access to information about the country’s highest court, as well as streamline court responses under the Right to Information Act. Previously, RTI applications could only be submitted by mail.
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud says the RTI portal of the Supreme Court is all ready and it will be operational within 15 minutes.
(File pic) pic.twitter.com/IybaEVjirl
— ANI (@ANI) November 24, 2022
The prescribed fee for RTI applications is Rs 10 per application, which can be paid via internet banking, UPI, credit or debit cards. The portal is only available to Indian citizens. The portal can be found here.
The Supreme Court RTI link is active here
Earlier this month, the court stated that because the portal is “practically ready for launch,” it was dismissing a petition filed by two law students seeking an online mechanism to file Right to Information requests about the court.
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According to the PIL, the committee provided a mechanism for filing petitions online but did not provide the same mechanism for filing RTI applications.
This follows the filing of several Public Interest Litigation (PILs) in the past seeking an online RTI portal for the court.
The court stated in 2019 that it is ‘debatable’ that it is a public authority under the RTI Act because the office of the Chief Justice of India would be covered by the law.
“The office of the Chief Justice, or the judges for that matter, is not separate from the court, but is part and parcel of the Supreme Court as a body, authority, and institution,” the court had ruled.
