The Delhi High Court Friday asked the Central Information Commission (CIC) to inform how much time it will take to hear an appeal on the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) refusal to provide information on electronic surveillance.
The plea came up for hearing before Justice Yashwant Varma who listed the matter for further hearing on December 2.
The high court was hearing a plea by Apar Gupta, a lawyer, co-founder, and Executive Director of the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) challenging the rejection of his RTI applications seeking statistical information on state-sponsored electronic surveillance.
The plea was opposed by Central government standing counsel Anurag Ahluwalia who said the petition was not maintainable as the matter is already pending before the CIC.
The plea said IFF is a registered charitable trust which defends online freedom, privacy, and innovation in India through strategic litigation and campaigns.
The petition, filed through advocate Vrinda Bhandari, said the petitioner had in December 2018 filed six applications under the Right to Information Act seeking details of the number of orders passed under Section 69 of the IT Act between January 2016 to December 2018 granting permission for electronic surveillance.
