Plea in Kerala High Court to bring Regional, District, Village offices under online RTI Portal

A petition has been moved before the Kerala High Court raising concern over the difficulties faced by citizens in accessing information from regional, district, and village-level government offices in Kerala due to their exclusion from the State government's online Right to Information (RTI) portal [Pravasi Legal Cell v State of Kerala & ors].

The Pravasi Legal Cell, an NGO working for the welfare of expatriates, has argued that because of such exclusion, citizens are forced to navigate outdated and cumbersome physical processes to access information at regional, district, and village offices.

It has, therefore, urged the High Court to direct the State to integrate its regional, district, and village-level offices into the Kerala government's online RTI portal.

This is to enable all citizens, particularly non-resident Indians (NRIs), to file RTI applications and access information without needing to visit government offices physically.

A Bench of Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice S Manu admitted the plea today and opined that regional, district and village offices should also be brought within the purview of the State's RTI portal.

The Court has also asked the State to clarify how much time it may need to integrate regional, district, and village-level offices into the online RTI portal.

The Secretary of the State's General Administration Department has been directed to file an affidavit responding to this query within three weeks.

"In accordance with the direction of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Pravasi Legal Cell v Union of India & ors (2023), the regional, district and village-level offices should also be brought within the purview of online RTI portal. I find no reason why it should not be so brought in within the purview of online RTI portal. The Learned Government Pleader would take instructions from the Secretary of General Administration Department as to within how much time the regional, district and village-level offices of the State can be brought within the existing online RTI portal," the Court said.

The matter will be heard next after three weeks.

The matter has been filed in the form of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition by the Pravasi Legal Cell.

It recounted that in March 2023, the Supreme Court in Pravasi Legal Cell v Union of India & ors directed all State governments and their departments to establish online RTI portals for facilitating the filing of applications, appeals, and the provision of information electronically.

The NGO noted that while an online RTI portal was implemented in Kerala in 2019, many local offices of State departments continue to be excluded from its purview.

It has argued that Kerala, therefore, has not fully complied with the Supreme Court's 2023 directive.

The exclusion of local offices from the RTI online portal, according to the petitioner, has posed significant challenges for citizens, particularly those who reside outside India, who rely on timely access to government information.

The plea explained that RTI applicants are forced to visit treasury offices in person to make payments for information and documents from local offices, which is time consuming and difficult for citizens, especially those living in remote areas or outside the State.

"The lack of a fully functioning online RTI portal adversely affects not only expatriates but also residents within Kerala, particularly those who live in remote areas," the plea said.

The plea further highlighted that under Section 6(1) of the RTI Act, 2005, citizens are entitled to file RTI applications electronically. However, the State has yet to adopt digital payment options like UPI and net banking.

The petitioner also submitted that adopting digital payment systems for these transactions would bring transparency, improve efficiency and streamline the process of filing RTI applications, appeals, etc. while also providing access to electronic information easily.

"With the current system, the RTI process continues to be plagued by procedural hurdles, bureaucratic inefficiency, and significant delays, thereby denying citizens their fundamental right to access information as guaranteed under the RTI Act," the plea added.

The petition has been filed through advocates Manas P Hameed, E Adithyan, Paul P Abraham, Mariyamma AK and Ipsita Ojal.