The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to all States and Union Territories (UTs) on a contempt of court petition alleging non-compliance with directions to set up online Right to Information (RTI) portals [Anuj Nakade v Dr Poonam Malakondaiah Govt. of Andhra Pradesh & Ors.].
A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala issued notice returnable on October 21.
The Court passed the interim order on a contempt of court petition by Anuj Nakade.
Nakade has submitted that seven States and four Union Territories have yet to establish online RTI portals, despite a March 2023 directive by the Supreme Court to do so within three months.
The States and UTs mentioned in the plea include:
Andhra Pradesh
Jharkhand
Manipur
Nagaland
Sikkim
West Bengal
Arunachal Pradesh
Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli
Jammu and Kashmir
Lakshadweep
Moreover, the plea claimed that even in States where RTI portals have been set up, the portals do not meet the accessibility and usability standards under the Guidelines for Indian Government Websites and Apps 3.0.
It further alleged that there are various public authorities which have not been onboarded on the RTI portal.
After hearing submissions in the matter, the Court has asked all States and Union Territories to respond by October 21.
The petitioner was represented by Advocate-on-Record (AoR) N Sai Vinod along with advocates Madhav Aggarwal and Kanu Garg.
[Read Order]