Delhi High Court upholds decision on RTI CJIs office accountable to public says Full Bench

The Delhi High Court today upheld the decision of the Single Judge Bench, and ruled that the Office of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) came within the ambit of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Justice Ravindra Bhat of the Delhi High Court had in September last year, confirmed an order of the Chief Information Commissioner, and held, “The CJI is a public authority under the RTI Act and the CJI holds the information pertaining to assets in his capacity as the Chief Justice. That office is a public authority under the Act and is covered by its provisions.”.The Supreme Court Information Officer, represented by Attorney General Ghoolam Vahanvati, had filed an appeal before a Full Bench of the Court, comprising Chief Justice A.P. Shah and Justices S. Muralidhar and Vikramjit Sen. The Bench, in dismissing the appeal, stated, “The subordinate judiciary is already declaring their assets. When they are accountable, so are we. Thus, the higher the judiciary, higher is the accountability towards the public at large.” The Bench also made public the intention of the judges of the Delhi High Court to disclose their assets by next week..The Bench made no distinction as regards personal information, if such information was required in public interest. The judges held that although, in the normal course, personal information such as medical records were not disclosable, if they were required in public interest, the CJI’s office was bound under the RTI Act to reveal the information..The Delhi High Court decision further weakens Chief Justice Balakrishnan’s stand that his office does not fall within the ambit of the RTI Act. However, the matter is likely to go on appeal to the Supreme Court, where another appeal pertaining to information regarding the appointment of judges is already pending..The RTI applicant in both cases, Subhash Chandra Agarwal, and his counsel, Prashant Bhushan, called the judgment ‘historic’ and said that it would add immeasurably to the transparency and accountability of judicial functions. This is the second time a decision of Chief Justice A.P. Shah has received accolades for being ‘historic’ and ‘landmark’, the first being his judgment in the Naz Foundation case on the de-criminalisation of S.377 in same-sex relationships. With both judgments on appeal before the Supreme Court, it remains to be seen whether the apex court will agree with the Chief Justice’s views.