REPORTABLE  

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA  

CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION  

WRIT PETITION (C) NO. 137 OF 2018  

Aseer Jamal            … Petitioner    

Versus    

Union of India & Ors.          … Respondents  

J U D G M E N T  

 Dipak Misra, CJI       Almost a century back, Nobel Laureate T.S. Eliot had  

disenchantingly written, “Where is the wisdom we have lost in  

knowledge?  Where is the knowledge we have lost in  

information?”  Though the content of the statement cannot be  

said to have lost its fragrance or flavour, yet today,  

information has become a strong sense of power.  Right to  

information has been treated as a right to freedom of speech  

and expression as contained in Article 19(1)(a) of the

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Constitution of India.  The right to acquire and to disseminate  

information has been regarded as an intrinsic component of  

freedom of speech and expression, as stated in Secretary,  

Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of  

India and others v. Cricket Association of Bengal and  

others.1 and People’s Union for Civil Liberties and another  

v. Union of India and others.2  

2. Having stated about the right to information, we would  

advert to the assertions made in the writ petition.  It is set  

forth in the writ petition that India, which is a vast country  

having large population, has few millions of illiterate adults  

and certain States, as per the 2011 Census, have more  

illiterates.    

3. Referring to Section 6(1) of the Right to Information Act,  

2005 (for brevity, „the Act‟), it is urged that the illiterate  

persons and the visually impaired persons or persons afflicted  

by other kinds of disabilities are not in a position to get the  

information.  It is contended that the provision contained in  

                                                           1   (1995) 2 SCC 161  

2   (2004) 2 SCC 476

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Section 6 suffers from unreasonable classification between  

visually impaired and visually abled persons and thereby  

invites the frown of Article 14 of the Constitution.  It is further  

contended that certain provisions of the Act are not accessible  

to orthopaedically impaired persons, persons below the  

poverty line and persons who do not have any access to the  

internet.  Though in the petition, it has been asseverated as  

regards the violation of Article 14 of the Constitution, yet the  

prayer is couched in a different manner and we are obliged to  

say so because we feel that there is no need or necessity to  

deal with the constitutional validity of Section 6 of the Act.  In  

fact, it is further necessary to mention that in the course of  

hearing, the prayer was centered on getting the reliefs,  

namely, to direct the Union of India, the States and the Union  

Territories to provide an effective machinery for the  

enforcement of the fundamental right to have access to  

information of illiterate citizens and to provide effective  

machinery to visually impaired persons and such impaired  

persons who are unable to have access to the internet.  That

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being the fact situation, we sought the assistance of Mr. K.K.  

Venugopal, learned Attorney General for India in the matter.  

4. We have heard Mr. Aseer Jamal, the petitioner, who has  

appeared in-person and Mr. K.K. Venugopal, learned Attorney  

General for India. Though the chart prepared by                        

Mr. Venugopal indicates the objections and the response, yet  

we intend to deal with it in a holistic manner.  

5. The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Act reads  

as follows:-  

“An Act to provide for setting out the practical  regime of right to information for citizens to  secure access to information under the  control of public authorities, in order to  promote transparency and accountability in  the working of every public authority, the  constitution of a Central Information  Commission and State Information  Commissions and for matters connected  therewith or incidental thereto.      WHEREAS the Constitution of India has  established democratic Republic;      AND WHEREAS democracy requires an  informed citizenry and transparency of  information which are vital to its functioning  and also to contain corruption and to hold

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Governments and their instrumentalities  accountable to the governed;      AND WHEREAS revelation of  information in actual practice is likely to  conflict with other public interests including  efficient operations of the Governments,  optimum use of limited fiscal resources and  the preservation of confidentiality of sensitive  information;      AND WHEREAS it is necessary to  harmonise these conflicting interests while  preserving the paramountcy of the  democratic ideal;      Now THEREFORE, it is expedient to  provide for furnishing certain information to  citizens who desire to have it.”   

 6. Section 2(j) of the Act deals with “right to information”,  

which reads thus:-  

“(j) “right to information" means the right to  information accessible under this Act which is held  by or under the control of any public authority and  includes the right to-   

 (i) inspection of work, documents, records;    (ii) taking notes, extracts or certified copies  of documents or records;    (iii) taking certified samples of material;   

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(iv) obtaining information in the form of  diskettes, floppies, tapes, video cassettes or  in any other electronic mode or through  printouts where such information is stored  in a computer or in any other device”  

 7. Section 6 of the Act that deals with „request for obtaining  

information‟ stipulates as under :-  

“6. Request for obtaining information.— (1) A  person, who desires to obtain any information  under this Act, shall make a request in writing or  through electronic means in English or Hindi or in  the official language of the area in which the  application is being made, accompanying such fee  as may be prescribed, to—    (a) the Central Public Information Officer or State  Public Information Officer, as the case may be, of  the concerned public authority;     (b) the Central Assistant Public Information Officer  or State Assistant Public Information Officer, as  the case may be, specifying the particulars of the  information sought by him or her:     Provided that where such request cannot be made  in writing, the Central Public Information Officer  or State Public Information Officer, as the case  may be, shall render all reasonable assistance to  the person making the request orally to reduce the  same in writing.     (2) An applicant making request for information  shall not be required to give any reason for  requesting the information or any other personal

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details except those that may be necessary for  contacting him.    (3) Where an application is made to a public  authority requesting for an information,—    

(i) which is held by another public authority;  or    (ii) the subject matter of which is more closely  connected with the functions of another  public authority,  

 the public authority, to which such application is  made. shall transfer the application or such part of  it as may be appropriate to that other public  authority and inform the applicant immediately  about such transfer:     Provided that the tiansfer of an application  pursuant to this sub-section shall be made as  soon as practicable but in no case later than five  days from the date of receipt of the application.”  

 8. Mr. Venugopal, learned Attorney General, has  

emphasized the proviso to Section 6(1) to highlight that it is  

obligatory on the part of the Central Public Information Officer  

or State Public Information Officer to render all reasonable  

assistance to the persons making the request orally to reduce  

the same in writing.  As we understand from the said proviso,

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it will be the duty of the officer to listen to the persons and to  

reduce it in writing and process the same.  

9. Section 6(3) of the Act takes care of the apprehension of  

the persons for whose cause the petitioner espouses, by  

making the provision pertaining to appropriate competent  

public authority.  On a careful reading of the same, we do not  

find that there can be any difficulty for any person to find out  

the public authority as there is a provision for transfer.    

10. As far as the grievance relating to visually impaired  

persons is concerned, as stated earlier, assistance has to be  

rendered under Section 6(1) of the Act to the persons who are  

unable to write or have difficulty in writing.  Mr. K.K.  

Venugopal has brought to our notice that several States  

provide information in Braille since the year 2012. Every time  

the authority receives an RTI application seeking information  

in Braille, it prepares a reply in the printed format and  

forwards it to the National Institute for the Visually  

Handicapped where it is converted to Braille.  The visually  

impaired citizens of Bihar were the first in the country to get

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copies under the Right to Information (RTI) Act and the Rules  

made by the State Government for its implementation in  

Braille script. Audio files are also being prepared.  

11. From the chart filed by Mr. Venugopal, it is vivid that  

several hotline numbers providing toll free access to  

information are available on the RTI website.  Furthermore, a  

help desk is also available for any query or feedback related to  

the portal. The contact number is 011-24622461.  

12. The next thing that requires to be emphasized upon is  

the plight of the people who are below the poverty line.  It is  

useful to mention that in exercise of the powers conferred by  

Section 27 of the Act, the Central Government has framed a  

set of rules, namely, the Right to Information Rules, 2012.   

Rules 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the said Rules read as follows:-  

“3. Application Fee.—An application under sub- section (1) of Section 6 of the Act shall be  accompanied by a fee of rupees ten and shall  ordinarily not contain more than five hundred  words, excluding annexures, containing address of  the Central Public Information Officer and that of  the applicant:   

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 Provided that no application shall be  rejected only on the ground that it contains more  than five hundred words.     4. Fees for providing information.— Fee for  providing information under sub-section (4) of  Section 4 and sub-sections (I) and (5) of Section 7  of the Act shall be charged at the following rates,  namely :—  

 (a) rupees two for each page in A-3 or smaller  size paper;     (b) actual cost or price of a photocopy in large  size paper;     (c) actual cost or price for samples or models;    (d) rupees fifty per diskette or floppy;  (e) price fixed for a publication or rupees two  per page of photocopy for extracts from the  publication;     (f) no fee for inspection of records for the  first hour of inspection and a fee of rupees 5  for each subsequent hour or fraction thereof;  and     (g) so much of postal charge involved in  supply of information that exceeds fifty  rupees.   

 5. Exemption from Payment of Fee.— No fee  under rule 3 and rule 4 shall be charged from any  person who, is below poverty line provided a copy  of the certificate issued by the appropriate

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Government in this regard is submitted alongwith  the application.    6. Mode of Payment of fee.— Fees under these  rules may be paid in any of the following manner,  namely:—  

 (a) in cash, to the public authority or to the  Central Assistant Public Information Officer  of the public authority, as the case may be,  against a proper receipt; or     (b) by demand draft or bankers cheque or  Indian Postal Order payable to the Accounts  Officer of the public authority; or    (c) by electronic means to the Accounts  Officer of the public authority, if facility for  receiving fees through electronic means is  available with the public authority.”  

 13. Rule 5 takes care of the situation that has been  

highlighted by the petitioner.  If an applicant belongs to below  

poverty line (BPL) category, he/she has to submit a proof in  

support of his/her claim that he/she belongs to the said  

category and as far as the mode of payment is concerned,  

various modes are provided and the criticism that it is  

restricted is unacceptable.

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14. In view of the obtaining situation, as has been brought  

out by the learned Attorney General for India, as presently  

advised, we are disposed to think that no further direction  

needs to be issued except granting liberty to the petitioner to  

submit a representation to the competent authority pointing  

out any other mode(s) available for getting information under  

the Act.  If such a representation is submitted, the same shall  

be dealt not only with sympathy but also with concern and  

empathy.  We say so as differently abled persons, which  

include visually impaired persons, should have the functional  

facility to receive such information as permissible under the  

Act.  They should not be deprived of the benefit of such a  

utility.  As indicated in the beginning, the information makes  

one empowered.  Additionally, we think it appropriate to ask  

the authorities to explore any kind of advanced technology  

that has developed in the meantime so that other methods can  

be introduced.  We are absolutely sure that if the petitioner  

would point out, the cognizance of the same shall be taken.   

We are also certain that the authority shall, with all sincerity

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and concern, explore further possibilities with the available  

on-line application/mechanism.   

15. The writ petition is, accordingly, disposed of.  There shall  

be no order as to costs.  

       .………………………….CJI.         (Dipak Misra)                            .…………………………….J.         (A.M. Khanwilkar)                  ...………………….………..J.                     (Dr. D.Y. Chandrachud)   

New Delhi;   September 27, 2018