India Right To Information

Whenever an order of the State or Central Information Commission is challenged, it is not necessary to make the Commission a party to the writ petition, the Madras High Court has ruled. The Commission is a statutory appellate authority and is expected to function within the four corners of the RTI Act. In his order on two writ petitions challenging an order of the Tamil Nadu Information Commission (TNIC), Justice K.Chandru said if the Commission’s order was challenged, it was not expected to defend it. In a writ for certiorari, the order would have to speak for itself. “If the Commission is made as a party, it will be an unnecessary drain on the Commission to engage counsel to defend its orders.” In no case a court was expected to defend its decisions. More often, the Commission’s orders were being challenged by government departments or information officers at the government’s expense.

Labels: High Court, Landmark Decision, Tamil Nadu

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