The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that the Office of Chief Justice of India comes under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
The top court upheld the judgment of the the Delhi High Court. “Transparency does not undermine judicial independence. Judicial independence and accountability go hand-in-hand. Disclosure is a facet of public interest,” Live Law quoted Justice Sanjiv Khanna as saying.
On 10 January, 2010, the High Court had held that the office of the chief justice of India comes within the ambit of the RTI law, saying judicial independence was not a judge’s privilege, but a responsibility cast upon him.
A five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court had on 4 April reserved its verdict on the appeals filed in 2010 by the Supreme Court secretary general and its central public information officer against the high court and the central information commission’s (CIC’s) orders.
(With PTI inputs)