Supreme Court launches online portal for RTI Applications

On 24-11-2022, the Chief Justice of India, Dr Justice DY Chandrachud has launched the RTI Online Portal for the Supreme Court of India.

Key Guidelines:

1. The Web Portal can be used only by Indian citizens to file Application, First Appeal and to make payment for Fees, Copying Charges, etc., under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act).
2. An applicant who desires to obtain information under the RTI Act from public authorities, other than Supreme Court of India, is advised to make RTI application to the concerned Public Authorities through respective Central/State Govt. Portal.
3. On clicking “Submit” button, the applicant has to fill the required details on the page that will appear. Please note that all the fields marked * (red colour Asterix) are mandatory while the others are optional.
4. The text of the application may be written at the prescribed column.
5. Any supporting document/annexures can be attached as PDF document in “Supporting document” within the specified file size.
6. After filling the first page, the applicant has to click on “Make Payment” to make payment of the prescribed RTI fee.
7. Applicant can pay the prescribed fee through the following modes:
   1. Internet banking;
   2. Using credit/debit card of Master/Visa;
   3. UPI;
8. Fee for making RTI application: a fee of ₹10/- per application is required. However, an applicant under the Below Poverty Line (BPL) is exempted to pay the requisite application fee under the RTI Rules, 2012. An applicant filing an application under the BPL category shall attach and upload a copy of the BPL certificate issued by the appropriate government in this regard, along with the application.
9. An application would only be registered once the requisite fee has been paid successfully.
10. In case after making payment, an applicant does not receives the registration number, the applicant is advised to wait for the 24-48 working hours as registration number will be generated after reconciliation. Please do not retry or make an additional attempt to make payment again. If an applicant does not receives the registration number within 24-48 hours, kindly send an e-mail at rti-cell@sci.nic.in with transaction details.
11. On successful submission of an application, a unique Registration/Diary number would be generated and the same should be referred by the applicant for any future references and correspondences.
12. Application filed through this Web Portal would reach electronically to the “Central Public Information Officer” of the Supreme Court of India and First Appellate Authority of Supreme Court of India, as the case may be.
13. In case additional fee/copying charges are required representing the cost for providing information, the CPIO would intimate the applicant and the applicant can pay the same through Web Portal.
14. For making First Appeal to the First Appellate Authority, the applicant has to click on the tab “Apply First Appeal” as provided on the concerned webpage and fill up the information as sought on the webpage.
15. The registration number of original application has to be used for reference at the time of filing the First Appeal.
16. As per RTI Act, no fee has to be paid for first appeal.
17. Applicant/the appellant should submit their mobile number to receive SMS alert.
18. To see the status of RTI Application/First Appeal filed through this Web Portal, a user check the same, by clicking at “View Status”.
19. All the requirements for filing an RTI application and First Appeal as well as other provisions regarding time limit, exemptions etc., as provided in the RTI Actwill continue to apply.
20. The permissible maximum file size allowed on this Web Portal is 1MB.
21. The permissible file format allowed to be uploaded on this Web Portal is PDF file.
22. Fee/Copying Charges once paid through this Web Portal shall not be refunded.