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TMI Blog2015 (2) TMI 259X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... les and the petitioners are not entitled to any further information - Decided in favour of appellant. - C.W.P. No. 10981 of 2012 (O & M) - - - Dated:- 30-10-2012 - Rajesh Bindal, J. Shri Raghujeet Singh Madan, Advocate, for the Petitioner. Shri Roopak Bansal, Addl. Advocate General, for the Respondent. ORDER The petitioners have approached this Court impugning the order dated 6-3-2012, passed by Chief Information Commissioner, Haryana (for short, the Commission ), whereby the appeal filed by them was dismissed referring to Section 3 of the Right to Information Act, 2005 (for short, the Act ) holding that under the Act, right to information is provided only to a citizen and not to a group of citizens, hence, any application/appeal on their behalf under the Act is not maintainable. 2. Learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that the petitioners herein filed application seeking certain information from Public Information Officer, PWD, B R, Jind Circle and deposited the requisite fee. As some sketchy and incomplete information was provided by the Public Information Officer, the petitioners preferred appeal before the first appellate authority, who vide ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... is regarding grant of opportunity of hearing to an appellant. 7. Part II of the Constitution of India deals with the issue of citizenship. Article 5 provides for citizenship at the commencement of the Constitution. Article 6 provides for rights of citizenship of certain persons who have migrated to India from Pakistan. Article 7 provides for rights of citizenship of certain migrants to Pakistan. Article 8 provides for right of citizenship of certain persons of Indian origin residing outside India. Article 11 provides for power of Parliament to make provision with regard to acquisition and termination of citizenship and all other matters relating therein. 8. The Citizenship Act, 1955 deals with the issue of citizenship. It provides for citizenship by birth, by descent, by registration, by naturalisation, by incorporation of territory, etc. Inter alia Section 3 thereof provides that every person born in India (a) on or after 26-1-1950 but before the commencement of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1986 and (b) on or after such commencement and either of whose parents is a citizen of India at the time of his birth, shall be a citizen of India by birth. 9. In the present case ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ides that in all Central Acts and Regulations, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context, words in the singular shall include the plural and vice versa. In the present case, it cannot be denied that the appellants before the Commission individually being citizens of India were entitled to invoke the jurisdiction of the authorities under the Act for seeking information. Merely because more than one citizen had sought information by filing a joint application when their cause of action is same, it cannot be rejected holding that the same was filed by group of persons. The ultimate object is to avoid multiplicity. In case more than one individual can file separate application for same relief, they can always file a joint application. 11. To avoid passing of the orders of the kind in question which may result in creation of unnecessary litigation, Hon ble the Supreme Court had made certain observations regarding working of the Commissions and issued directions in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 210 of 2012 - Namit Sharma v. Union of India, decided on 13-9-2012. The relevant parts thereof are extracted below : 99. This discussion safely leads us to conclude that t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y process which involves critical legal questions and niceties of law. Such appreciation and application of legal principles is a sine qua non to the determinative functioning of the Commission as it can tilt the balance of justice either way. Malcolm Gladwell said, the key to good decision making is not knowledge. It is understanding. We are swimming in the former. We are lacking in the latter . The requirement of a judicial mind for manning the judicial tribunal is a well-accepted discipline in all the major international jurisdictions hardly with any exceptions .. [Emphasis supplied] 12. Accordingly, the order passed by the Commission rejecting the appeal holding the same to be not maintainable cannot be sustained and is set aside. However, the matter need not be remanded back for the reason that effective relief has already been granted to the petitioners and the respondents have undertaken to supply them copy of the rules and the petitioners are not entitled to any further information. 13. The grievance raised by learned counsel for the petitioners in the present case is also that before deciding the appeal, the petitioners were not given any ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... her proceedings by the Tribunal, the officer who signs those orders, his name and designation shall be clearly mentioned. 26. In courts all proceedings take place in writing. As the file shows in the present case after 21-9-2007 when the case was adjourned to 14-12-2007, only a notice is available on record fixing the date of hearing as 19-5-2010 at Chandigarh. There is no order to take up the file on any date and directing for fixing next date of hearing and issuance of notice to the parties. In the absence thereof, under what authority a notice was issued to the parties is not available on record. The Principal seat of the Tribunal is at Delhi. As was informed, sometimes, it holds Circuit Bench at different places. Whichever cases are to be fixed at Circuit Bench, there has to be specific order in the file fixing the case in a particular bench. The aforesaid order should either be passed in the presence of the counsels or the parties when it listed at the Principal Bench or it should be ensured that the notice has, in fact, been served upon both the parties. Whatever the appeal is taken up for hearing there has to be an interim order on record passed on that date showing the p ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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