The Delhi High Court in a far-reaching ruling Tuesday held that the
office of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) comes within the ambit of
the Right to Information (RTI) law, and held that judicial
independence is not a judge’s privilege but a responsibility cast
upon him.
RTI activists across the country and the legal fraternity hailed the
high court’s ruling, saying the ruling would make the judiciary more
accountable and transparent.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justices S.
Muralidhar and Vikramjit Sen, upholding a single bench order,
maintained that accountability of the judiciary cannot be seen in
isolation.
“It must be viewed in the context of a general trend to render
governors answerable to the people in ways that are transparent,
accessible and effective. Democracy expects openness, and openness
is concomitant of free society. Sunlight is the best disinfectant,”
they said.
The voluminous 88-page judgment is perceived as a personal setback
to Supreme Court Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, who has resisted
disclosure of information relating to judges under the RTI Act.
Sources in the Supreme Court registry said it was likely to
challenge the division bench’s order.
According to the judgment, apex court judges would not only be
required to reveal details of their assets but other decisions such
as appointment of judges and complaints against judges also would
come under public scrutiny.
“While it is obvious that the degree of accountability and
answerability of a high court judge or a Supreme Court judge can be
no different from that of a magistrate, it can well be argued that
the higher the judge is placed in the judicial hierarchy, the
greater the standard of accountability and the stricter the scrutiny
of accountability of such mechanism,” said the judgment.
As if on cue with their counterparts in the Supreme Court, the Delhi
High Court judges said that they too would declare their assets and
make available all information on the website.
“We too will declare our assets by next week,” said the three-member
bench.
The Kerala and Madras High Court judges have already declared their
assets. The Allahabad and Delhi High Courts had already passed the
resolution to declare their assets.
Appearing for the Supreme Court registry, Attorney General G.E.
Vahanvati said the judges should not be exposed to public scrutiny
or inquiry as it would hamper their functioning and independence.
RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal, on whose petition the Central
Information Commission (CIC) had ruled that the office of the CJI is
a public authority, was clearly overjoyed.
“I have no words to express the importance of this judgment. The
only thing I can say is that it is a landmark and historic decision.
This judgment will take forward the torch of transparency and
accountability in the country,” Agrawal told IANS.
Senior Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who fought the case
for Agrawal, told IANS: “It’s a historic judgment and it should go a
long way in emphasising that the judiciary is also accountable and
all information relating to official functions discharged by the
judiciary are accessible under the RTI.”
The political class was muted in its reaction. Both The Congress and
the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not make a direct
comment on the judgment but simply said there should be transparency
in different wings of the government.
“It is a matter between the judiciary and the RTI. We don’t want to
comment on it,” said Shakeel Ahmed of the Congress, adding that
there should be transparency and probity in different wings of the
administration.
BJP spokesman Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said there was no need for a
political reaction on the verdict. He added there should be
accountability and transparency in “different pillars of democracy”.
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