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Supreme Court Upholds Delhi High Court Order That Office Of Chief Justice Falls Under RTI

The judicial side of the Chief Justice’s office is not covered under the RTI Act, a five-judge constitution bench ruled.

Media personnel in a lawn of the Supreme Court. (Source: PTI)
Media personnel in a lawn of the Supreme Court. (Source: PTI)

The Supreme Court held that the office of the Chief Justice of India is a public authority under the transparency law, the Right to Information Act.

A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi upheld the 2010 Delhi High Court verdict and dismissed the three appeals filed by Secretary General of the Supreme Court and the Central Public Information Officer of the apex court.

Cautioning that RTI cannot be used as tool of surveillance, the top court held that judicial independence has to be kept in mind while dealing with transparency.

Here are the other highlights from the verdict:

  • Chief Justice’s office is a public authority under the RTI Act
  • We hold that judicial side of the CJI's office is not covered under RTI
  • Transparency will only strengthen judicial independence
  • Judicial independence does not mean judges are above the law: Justice DY Chandrachud

The five-judge bench had on April 4 reserved its verdict on the appeals filed in 2010. Other members of the bench were Justice NV Ramana, Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Sanjiv Khanna.

The Delhi High Court on Jan. 10, 2010, had ruled 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.

This is a developing story.