MASSIVE: SC brings CJI's office under RTI, upholds Delhi HC's 2010 order

Delivering a landmark judgment on Wednesday, Supreme Court upheld Delhi High Court decision bringing office of chief justice of India (CJI) under ambit of Right to Information (RTI) Act. A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi has prounced judgement observing that Office of CJI comes under “public authority”. Or members of bench are Justices N V Ramana, D Y Chandrachud, Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna.

In a 3:2 split verdict, SC bench said that as per RTI's provision -  CJI falls under definition of public authority. top court added that Public interest demands transparency and that it does t undermine judicial independence. While Justice Khanna wrote majority verdict, Justices Ramana and Justice Chandrachud wrote separate and concurring verdicts. However, top court said that RTI should t be used as a tool for surveillance. 5-judge bench also said that judicial independence can't be achieved by denying information, adding that independence and accountability goes hand in hand.

top court highlighted that judges are t precluded from rule of law as y hold a constitutional position including CJI. However, apex court underlined that RTI does t fall under Article 19 and refore transparency cant be allowed to run counter to right to privacy. 

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apex court had on April 4 this year reserved its verdict on appeals filed in 2010 by Supreme Court secretary-general and its central public information officer against high court and central information commission's (CIC's) orders. bench, headed by chief justice, had wrapped up hearing, saying body wants a "system of opaqueness", but judiciary cant be destroyed in name of transparency.

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2010 verdict by Delhi High Court

In a path-breaking verdict on January 10, 2010, Delhi High Court had held that office of chief justice of India comes within ambit of Right to Information (RTI) law, saying judicial independence was t a judge's privilege, but a responsibility cast upon him. 88-p judgement was n seen as a personal setback to n CJI, KG Balakrishnan, who has been opposed to disclosure of information relating to judges under RTI Act.  high court verdict was delivered by a three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice A P Shah (since retired) and Justices Vikramjit Sen and S Muralidhar.

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move to bring office of CJI under transparency law was initiated by RTI activist S C Agrawal. His lawyer Prashant Bhushan had submitted in top court that though apex court should t have been judging its own cause, it is hearing appeals due to "doctrine of necessity". lawyer had described reluctance of judiciary in parting information under Right To Information Act as "unfortunate" and "disturbing", asking: "Do judges inhabit different universe?" He had submitted that apex court has always stood for transparency in functioning of or organs of State, but it develops cold feet when its own issues require attention.

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