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TMI Blog2007 (4) TMI 745X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d the first appeal of the appellant on the ground that the information requested by him was already in the public domain having been put on the website as a priced item. Besides that, rules also provide for access to any applicant to the same information held in the form of files by the Department on payment of certain predetermined charges. In the public authority s view, The information already available in the public domain would not be treated as information held by or under the control of public authority pursuant to Section 2(j) of the Right to Information Act, 2005. Therefore, the provisions of RTI Act, 2005 would not be applicable for providing copies of such documents / information to the public. 3. The present request of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... for the general public to access information 7. The respondents have brought up the point that the information as requested by the appellant falls in two categories. There is a part which is about default by the firm, M/s. M.J.M. Limited. The other part is about the status of the company, name of the directors, filing of the accounts by the company since 1992 and other such details. According to the respondents, the CPIO and the AA have furnished the information in respect of the first part to the appellant. In their submission before the Commission, the respondents have stated In this regard, it is further submitted that the office of the respondents have launched prosecution against M/s.M.J.M. Pharma Ltd. and its directors by filing ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the right to information accessible under this Act which is held by or under the control of any public authority . . The use of the words accessible under this Act ; held by and under the control of are crucial in this regard. The inference from the text of this sub-section and, especially the three expressions quoted above, is that an information to which a citizen will have a right should be shown to be a) an information which is accessible under the RTI Act and b) that it is held or is under the control of a certain public authority. This should mean that unless an information is exclusively held and controlled by a public authority, that information cannot be said to be an information accessible under the RTI Act. Inferentially i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... municating the information to the public which include, among others, the internet or any other means including inspection of office of any public authority. 10. It is significant that the direction regarding dissemination of information through free or priced documents, or free or priced access to information stored on internet, electronic means, or held manually; free or on payment of predetermined cost for inspection of such documents or records held by public authorities, appear in a chapter on obligations of public authorities . The inference from these sections is a) it is the obligation of the public authorities to voluntarily disseminate information so that the public have minimum resort to the use of this Act to obtain informa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... domain it is excluded from the purview of the RTI Act and, the right to access this category of information shall be on the basis of whether the public authority discloses it free, or at such cost of the medium or the print cost price as may be prescribed . The Act therefore vests in the public authority the power and the right to prescribe the mode of access to voluntarily disclosed information, i.e. either free or at a prescribed cost / price. 13. The respondents are right therefore in arguing that since they had placed in the public domain a large part of the information requested by the appellant and prescribed the price of accessing that information either on the internet or through inspection of documents, the ground rules of acc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ion under the RTI Act applies only to information held or under the control of the public authority. It does not apply inferentially to the information not held or not under the control of the public authority having been brought into the public domain suo-motu in terms of sub-section 3 of Section 4. The price and the cost of access of information determined by the public authority applies to the latter category. As such, there is no inconsistency between the two provisions which are actually parallel and independent of each other. I therefore hold that no ground to annul the provision of pricing the information which the public authority in this case has done, exists. 16. In my considered view, therefore, the CPIO and the AA were ac ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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