Gujarat Gazette, No. 426, Part Part IV-C Extra, 29 December 2025

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Extra No. 426

©

The Gujarat Government Gazette EXTRAORDINARY

PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY

Vol. LXVI ] MONDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2025 / PAUSHA 8, 1947

Separate paging is given to this Part in order that it may be filed as a Separate Compilation.

PART IV-C

Statutory Rules and Orders (Other than those published in Parts I, I-A and I-L)

made by Statutory Authorities other than the Government of Gujarat

including those made by the Government of India, the High Courts, the

Director of Municipalities, the Commissioner of Police, the Director of

Prohibition and Excise, the District Magistrates and the Election

Commission, Election Tribunals, Returning Officers and other

authorities under the Election Commission.

BY THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD

NOTIFICATION

No.C. 3007/2025

The Gujarat District Courts (Right to Information) Rules, 2025

In exercise of the powers conferred by Sub- Section (1) of Section 28 of the Right to Information Act, 2005, the Chief Justice of High Court of Gujarat, being the 'Competent Authority' hereby makes the following rules:

1. Short title and commencement. -

(1) These rules shall be called the Gujarat District Courts (Right to Information) Rules, 2025.

(2) These Rules shall apply to all the Courts functioning under the superintendence and control of the High Court of Gujarat.

(3) These Rules shall come into force from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

426-1

IV-C Ex.-⁴²⁶426-2 GUJARAT GOVERNMENT GAZETTE EX., 29-12-2025 [ PART IV-C

2. Definitions.

(1)  In these rules unless, the context otherwise requires,-
     (a)   'Act' means the Right to Information Act, 2005 (No.22 of 2005);
     (b)   'Appellate authority' means designated as such by the Chief Justice of the High Court of Gujarat;
     (c)   'Authorised  person'  means  Public  Information  Officers  and  Assistant  Public  Information  Officers
           designated as such by the Chief Justice of the High Court Gujarat;
     (d)   'Fees' means Fees prescribed under the Rule 7;
     (e)   'Form' means the Form appended to these rules;
     (f)   'Section' means a Section of the Act.
(2)  Words and expressions used but not defined in these rules shall have the same meaning as assigned to them
     in the Act.

3. Application for seeking information.

(1) Any person seeking information under the Act shall make a neatly typed or a handwritten application in Form 'A' to the authorised person and shall deposit application fee as per Rule 7(1)(A) with the authorised person. If the application is submitted with insufficient fees then the Authorised Person shall inform the applicant in Form 'B' to pay the deficit amount of fees, failing which the application shall be treated as dismissed.

(2) Applicants can also apply to obtain information through the RTI Web Portal of the High Court of Gujarat by uploading the application in PDF format which should be in the proforma as given in the Form 'A'.

Provided that a person who makes a request through electronic form shall ensure that the requisite fee is deposited with the authorised person within seven days of his sending the request through electronic form, failing which the application shall be treated as dismissed.

Provided also that in case of online submission of application by a BPL (Below Poverty Line) Card holder through the Portal, the applicant shall upload a copy of Certified Copy or True Copy of BPL Card or Certificate issued on that behalf by the concerned authority.

(3) The Authorised Person shall inform the applicant regarding other fees and charges to be paid in Form 'C', as provided under Rule 7(1)(B).

(4) If the charges as provided in Rule 7(1)(B) are not paid by the applicant within 15 days of informing the applicant, then the application shall be liable to be rejected.

(5) Fees and charges payable under Rule 7(1)(A) and 7(1)(B) may be paid in cash or by demand draft or by pay order or by cheque or in the form of Non-Judicial Stamp or Non-Judicial Stamp paper or stamping through franking or Electronic stamping or Court fee stamp or Judicial Stamp Paper or Indian Postal Order.

Provided, the fees and/or charges as provided in Rule 7(1)(A) and 7(1)(B) may also be paid through online payment in case of submitting the application online through RTI Web Portal.

(6) Fees and charges paid by Demand Draft or by Pay Order or by Cheque or Indian Postal Order duly crossed and shall be drawn in favour of the concerned Public Authority.

(7) No fees shall be payable by a person belonging to the Below Poverty Line families, if such person encloses with the Application a certified copy or a true copy of the Below Poverty Line Card or a Certificate issued in that behalf by the Competent Authority.

4. Disposal of application by the authorised person.

(1) The Authorised Person shall be required to provide the information sought for, to the applicant within thirty days of the receipt of the request or reject the request for any of the reasons specified in the Act or partially provide the information sought for and partially reject the request for any of the reasons specified in the Act and inform the applicant in Form 'D'.

Provided that the applicant shall be given reasons for not giving the information which are exempted from disclosure under section 8 or section 9 of the Act.

Provided further that where the information sought for concerns the life or liberty of a person, the Authorised Person shall be required to provide such information within forty- eight hours of the receipt of such request or application.

(2) In case where the information sought for does not fall within the jurisdiction of the Authorised Person / Public Authority to whom the application is made, the Authorised Person shall transfer such application or such part of it to another concerned Public Authority in Form 'E' as soon as practicable but in no case later than five days of the receipt of the application and inform the applicant immediately about such transfer.

(3) In case of the application submitted online through the RTI Portal, the reply to the application shall also be uploaded on the web portal by the office of Authorised Person.

(4) If the Authorised Person finds it appropriate he may grant permission to inspect the records to the applicant. While inspecting such records, the applicant shall not be allowed to carry or use any writing instrument/s other than a pencil.

(5) During inspection, the applicant shall not have any right to put any mark on the record. During inspection of record, if the applicant wishes to make notes, he shall make them on a plain paper and after inspection he shall show the note/s to the custodian of the record or person authorised by the custodian, who after being satisfied that the applicant has not tampered with or damaged the record in any way, shall return such note/s to the applicant.

(6) Exemption from disclosure of information - The information specified under Section 8 and Section 9 of the Act shall not be disclosed and made available and in particular the following information shall not be disclosed:-

(a) Any information which is not in the public domain;

(b) Any information which does not relate to judicial functions and duties of the Court and matters incidental and ancillary thereto;

(c) Any information which has been expressly forbidden to be published by the Court or the disclosure whereof may constitute Contempt of Court; or information which includes commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information;

(d) information which would impede the process of investigation or apprehension of prosecution of offenders; or information which relates to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information;

(e) Any information affecting the confidentiality of any examination conducted by the Gujarat High Court including Gujarat Judicial Service and Gujarat Higher Judicial Service. The question of confidentiality shall be decided by the Competent Authority whose decision shall be final;

(f) If the Information sought by the applicant, is in respect of any judicial proceedings or judicial records, such information shall be obtained as per the procedure prescribed for obtaining certified copies under the Rules and Orders for the time being in force on that behalf, including Civil Manual and Criminal Manual.

(g) Authorised Person shall not entertain any application for inspection of any record which can be inspected as provided under General Rules (Civil Manual/Criminal Manual), as the case may be.

(h) Information which is contained in published material available to the Public or which is available on the Web Site.

(7) Any information which is to be furnished and access to records shall be subject to the restrictions and prohibitions contained in rules / regulations and destruction of records in force from time to time which may have been notified or implemented by the High Court of Gujarat.

(8) No Judicial Officer shall be compelled to appear in person before any Authority, State Chief Information Commissioner or State Information Commissioner under the Right to Information Act, 2005, if he has made necessary arrangements for production or supply of materials required under the said Act.

(9) A register shall be maintained in the office of Authorised Person as per the Form 'G'.

5. Appeal.

(1) Any person—

(a) who fails to get a response in Form 'D' from the authorised person within thirty days of submission of Form 'A', or

(b) is aggrieved by the response received within the prescribed period, may file an appeal in Form 'F' to the Appellate Authority.

(2) On receipt of the appeal, the Appellate Authority shall acknowledge the receipt of appeal and after giving the applicant an opportunity of being heard, shall endeavour to dispose of the appeal within thirty days from the date on which it is presented and send a copy of the decision to the authorised person concerned.

(3) In case the appeal is allowed, the information shall be supplied to the applicant by the authorised person within such period as ordered by the Appellate Authority. This period shall not exceed thirty days from the date of the receipt of the order.

(4) A Register of Appeals shall be maintained in the office of the Appellate Authority as per Form 'H'.

(5) An appeal before the Appellate Authority can also be presented online. If the original RTI application was not filed through the RTI web portal of the High Court of Gujarat, the Appellant shall upload the reply of the said RTI Application received by him, in PDF format on the RTI Portal.

(6) Where an appeal has been preferred through Online RTI Portal, the notices for hearing of such RTI Appeal shall be sent through email / SMS and shall also be reflected on the RTI Portal. No hard copy notice shall be sent for appeals presented through Online RTI Portal.

(7) In case of the appeal preferred online through the RTI Portal, the order/reply to the appeal shall also be uploaded on the web portal.

6. Identification of Citizenship

On receiving an application under Section 6 of the Act, where the Authorised Person is of the opinion that the identification of Citizenship is required to be ensured, he may ascertain the same subject to adherence to the time limit prescribed under Section 7 of the Act.

7. Charging of Fee.

(1) The authorized person shall charge the fee at the following rates, namely:

(A) Application Fee:

(i)   Information relating to tenders documents /   Rs. 500 per Application
      bids / quotations / contracts
(ii)  Information other than above                  Rs. 50 per Application

(B) Other Fees:

8. Penalty:

Where the penalty is imposed under sub-section (1) of section 20 of the Act, the Authorised Person shall deposit the amount of penalty in the Government Treasury which shall be credited in the appropriate receipt head.

9. Maintenance of Records.

(1) The authorized person shall maintain records of all applications received for supply of information and fee charged.

(2) The appellate authority shall maintain records of all appeals filed before it and fee charged.

(3) e-Register shall be maintained for all such RTI Applications and Appeals filed through the RTI Portal of the High Court of Gujarat and the same shall be treated as part of the record.

10. Destruction of Records:

(A) The Records should be maintained as per the table given below:

(B) The following papers shall be permanently preserved

(Physically or Digitally):

(C) The following papers shall be preserved for 10 years :

(D) The following papers shall be preserved for 5 years :

(E) The following papers shall be preserved for 2 years :

11. If an appeal has been preferred to any higher forum or Courts, the period prescribed hereinabove for the preservation of records shall be reckoned from the date of the final adjudication of the such appeal.

FORM -A

Application for Information under Section 6(1) of the Act

[See Rule 3(2)]

To

The Authorized Person.

(Name of Public Authority/Department/Office)

1. Full Name of the Applicant.

2. Present Address:

3. Permanent Address:

4. Particulars of information-______________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 5. I state that the information sought does not fall within the restriction contained in Section 8 and Section 9 of the Act and to the best of my knowledge it pertains to your office.

6. Detail of Fee:

a. A fee of Rs………………………………… has been deposited in the office of the authorized person vide No. ....... dated.............

b. I enclose herewith crossed Cheque/Demand Draft/Pay Order/Indian Postal Order for application fees. The details are as under.

c. Non-judicial stamp / court fee stamp of Rs...... is affixed on this application.

d. I have made an application on Rs.50/- Non judicial stamp paper/judicial stamp paper hence no separate fee is paid.

e. I hereby declare that I belong to B.P.L. family as on date ............. and I enclose herewith certified copy / true copy of B.P.L card or certified copy / true copy of certificate for B.P.L. Therefore I have not paid the application fee.

7. I hereby declare that I am a Citizen of India.

8. I hereby declare that above details are true to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Date: Signature of Applicant

Place: Phone No.:

FORM B

Intimation to applicant to deposit deficit application fees

[See Rule 3(1)]

To

(Name of applicant)

(Address)

Sir,

Your application dated __________________________ under Section ___________________of the RTI Act has been received on____________.

In this connection I am to state that you have not submitted your application with fees prescribed under Rule 7(1)(A). Therefore you are hereby informed to pay the deficit fees of Rs__________(In words Rupees____________only) within seven days from the receipt of this intimation, failing which your application shall be treated as dismissed.

Signature & Stamp of the Authorized Person

E –mail

Telephone No.

FORM C

Intimation to applicant to deposit other fee and charges for required information and/or documents

[See Rule 3(3)]

To

(Name of applicant)

(Address)

Sir,

Your application dated ________________________ under Section ________________ of the RTI Act has been received on____________.

In this connection I am to state that you are hereby informed to pay charges of Rs__________(In words Rupees____________only)to enable the undersigned to furnish the said information. Please make payment within the period of fifteen days of receipt of this intimation failing which the application is liable to be rejected.

Signature & Stamp of the Authorized Person

E –mail

Telephone No.

FORM D

Supply and/or rejection of information to the applicant

[See Rule 4(1)]

To

(Name of applicant)

(Address)

Sir,

This is with reference to your application dated: __________ requesting for supply of information/documents under the Right to Information Act, 2005.

1. Required information/documents sought for by you in your above application are enclosed herewith.

2. Out of the required information/documents sought for, the partial information/documents are supplied as under:

a. ___________

b. ___________

c. ___________

3. The following information/documents cannot be supplied under the provisions of the following section of the Act.

If you are aggrieved by the above decision, you may prefer an appeal to (name/designation/office address of the Appellate Authority) within thirty days from the date of receipt of the decision.

Date: Signature of Authorised Person

Place: Phone No.:

* Strike out whichever is not applicable.

FORM E

Transfer of application pertaining to other public authority

[See Rule 4(2)]

To

Public Information Officer

(Name of Public Authority/Department/Office)

Address:_______________

Sir,

Please find enclosed herewith an application/a copy of application under the RTl Act, 2005 of Shri / Smt. / Kum. dt. which has been received here on ............ (date).

As the subject matter of the required information / document is more closely connected with the functions of your public authority / department / office, the same is entirely transferred herewith to you for further necessary action.

Or

Out of the information / documents sought for in the above referred application, the following information / documents pertain to your public authority / department / office, the same is transferred to you for further necessary action.

1. __________________

2. __________________

3. __________________

4. __________________

It is certified that the applicant has paid Rs. ____(Rupees______only) as application fee as per Rule 7(A).

Yours faithfully,

(...........................................)

Authorised Person

Name of Public Authority / Department /

Office Telephone No:

Copy to:

Applicant Name

Address

He / She is requested to contact the Public Information Officer of the concerned Public Authority mentioned above.

* Strike out whichever is not applicable.

FORM F

Appeal under Section 19 of the Right to Information Act, 2005

[See Rule 5(1)]

To

The Appellate Authority

(Name of Public Authority/Department/Office)

Address:_______________

Sir,

As I have not received any decision/As I am aggrieved by the decision of the Authorised Person dated:_______.

I, hereby file this first appeal under section 19(1) of the RTI Act, 2005. The particulars of my appeal are as under:

1.   Full Name of Appellant
2.   Permanent Address
3.   Particulars of the authorised person:
     a.    Name
     b.    Address
4.   Date of Submission of application in Form A
5.   Date on which 30 days from submission of Form A is over.
6.   Reasons for appeal:
     a.    No response received in Form D within thirty days of submission of Form A.
     b.    Aggrieved by the response received within prescribed period [5(l) (b)] [Copy of the reply receipt be
           attached]
     c.    Grounds for appeal
7.   Last date for filing the appeal:
8.   Particulars of Information:
     a.    Information requested
     b.    Subject
     c.    Period

Date: Signature of Applicant

Place: Phone No.:

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