Supreme Court Judge Mahaz Ali Zahir has stated that the last stage for hearing cases concerning rulings of the Information Commissioner under the Right to Information Act is the High Court, and that such cases cannot be heard by the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court Judge Mahaz Ali Zahir has stated that the last stage for hearing cases concerning rulings of the Information Commissioner under the Right to Information Act is the High Court, and that such cases cannot be heard by the Supreme Court.
Housing Ministry did not respond to an RTI request submitted by RTI activist Ahmed Afrah Ismail in 2022 seeking information regarding the construction of Ameenee Magu. This was raised at the Information Commissioner's Office, which then ordered the ministry to comply.
The ministry appealed the Information Commissioner's ruling at the High Court. The High Court ruled that the ministry must provide the information requested by Afrah. The State then appealed the case at the Supreme Court.
In the hearing held today on the case at the Supreme Court, Judge Mahaz had a differing opinion, in which he said that as per Article 64(b) of the RTI Act, the case cannot be heard by the Supreme Court.
Article 64(a) of the RTI Act states "Where there is a party unsatisfied with the decision reached by the Information Commissioner as under this Act, the party may appeal the matter to the High Court, within 10 days from the date the decision was made or should have been made. And in any such appeal proceedings, the appellant has the onus of establishing that he followed the law correctly in his suit against the Information Commissioner".
Article 64(b) then follows with, "A judicial court may only probe a decision made by the Information Commissioner under this Act, in the appeal stage prescribed in this section".
Mafaz says that instead of saying 'judicial courts', Article 64(b) specifically states 'a judicial court', and states 'in the appeal stage prescribed in this section', clearly excluding other stages of appeal. He said that Article 64(a) mentions the High Court, but not the Supreme Court.
He stated that the High Court's ruling must be considered the final ruling in such cases. He further noted that the appeal process has been shortened in such cases due to the sensitivity and importance placed upon Right to Information.
However, the other Judges on the bench, Judge Aisha Shujune Mohamed and Judge Dr Azmiralda Zahir stated that there is no requirement in this case to judge whether RTI cases can be heard at the Supreme Court.
While hearings of the case proceed at the Supreme Court, the Attorney General's Office and Information Commissioner's Office have stated that they believe the case can be heard at the Supreme Court.
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