By IANS,
New Delhi : The Delhi High Court Thursday agreed to hear two separate petitions asking it to declare the attorney general’s office a public authority so that it comes under the purview of the Right To Information Act, 2005.
Justice S.K. Misra listed for Oct 30 the petitions seeking to declare the attorney general’s office as a public authority under the RTI Act on the ground that the top law officer’s appointment was governed by the constitution.
In one petition filed by RTI activist R.K. Jain, the court asked the central government to file its response.
Earlier, it issued notice to the law and justice ministry on a similar petition filed by another Delhi-based RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agarwal.
The court has now clubbed both the pleas.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, who had filed the plea for Agarwal, said that as far as the attorney general at the centre and advocate generals at the state level were concerned, they were public authorities and came under the RTI Act.
Agarwal moved court in appeal against a decision of the Central Information Commission holding that the office of attorney general was not covered by the RTI Act.