Gauhati High Court: In a PIL filed regarding non-compliance of the State of Assam with the Supreme Court’s directions of establishing online portals for all High Courts, the Division Bench of Vijay Bishnoi*, CJ., and Unni Krishnan Nair, J., disposed of the petition, holding that more or less all the issues raised by the petitioner had been resolved. The Court also directed the State to complete the enrolment process of the Public Information Officers and other Departments and also make every endeavour to implement the mandate of Section 4 of the Right to Information Act, 2005(‘RTI Act’).
The present petition was filed by the petitioner due to the State’s non-compliance with the Supreme Court’s directions in Pravasi Legal Cell v. Union of India, 2023 SCC OnLine SC 1229. The petitioners sought directions to the State to introduce an online portal system and implement the mandate and obligation of Section 4 of the RTI Act. The petitioner also sought a direction for the Gauhati High Court to form an e-Committee to introduce an online portal system in the subordinate judiciary of Assam.
The petitioner contended that though some progress had been made on the issues in this PIL, certain Public Information Officers and Departments were yet to be enrolled for the online portal.
The Court was informed that around 85 percent of the Public Information Officers and Departments had already enrolled while the rest were in the process of enrolment and would soon be enrolled. The Court was also assured by the State that the remaining issues raised in the present PIL would be taken care of.
The Court was also informed that as far as the necessity of uploading the supporting documents was concerned, the State had assured that the condition of uploading them would be made directory and not mandatory.
Considering that the issues raised by the petitioner had more or less been resolved by the State, the Court held that no further direction was required to be passed in this PIL. However, the Court directed the State to complete the process of enrolling the Public Information Officers and the other Departments.
The Court also directed to a provision to be made for uploading the supporting documents expediously, as a directory requirement instead of mandatory one. Further, the State was directed to make every endeavour to implement the mandate of Section 4 of the RTI Act.
Accordingly, the PIL was disposed of.
[Reetam Singh v. State of Assam, PIL No. 30 of 2024, decided on 07-03-2025]
*Order authored by: Chief Justice Vijay Bishnoi
Advocates who appeared in this case:
For the petitioner: Petitioner-in-Person.
For the respondents: Additional Senior Government Advocate D.K. Sarmah, D. Deka, Standing Counsel for Gauhati High Court G. Baishya
