By NewsGram Staff Writer

Delhi High court has sought a response from Delhi government on the denial of access to homeopathy books to a prisoner locked in Mumbai Central jail.

Under the Right To Information (RTI) Act, Ehtesham Qutubuddin Siddiqui, had sent a letter to the Delhi High Court in 2012, after Central Information Commission (CIC) rejected his demand to be provided with 45 books on homeopathy published by the Central Council for Research in Homeopathy (CCRH).

The Indian Express reported that the court converted the letter to a PIL and issued a notice to the Delhi prison authorities and the Central government enquiring whether the RTI Act was available to the prisoners and whether published books could be brought under the RTI Act.

As per the report, the CCRH and the CIC stated that since the books were "priced publications," they could not be provided under the RTI Act.

The newspaper also reported Delhi government stating as Delhi authorities did not have any jurisdiction as the prisoner was lodged at the Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai.

However, advocate Meenakshi Midha, who had been appointed as the impartial judge on the case, argued that the jail authorities and the government should have purchased the books for the prisoner, or given e-books or "soft copies" of the books to Siddiqui, in case the purchase of the hard copies of the books was too expensive.

Midha said, "They should get CCRH to provide copies, it's a government publication."