In the name of transparency, we cannot destroy institution of judiciary, says CJI

In the name of transparency, we cannot destroy institution of judiciary, says CJI

1. The Supreme Court has reserved its verdict in a case whether the Chief Justice of India’s (CJI) office is covered under the purview of the Right to Information Act (RTI).
2. The Supreme Court was hearing a plea filed by the Supreme Court secretary-general against the January 2010 judgment of the Delhi High Court that declared the CJI’s office a “public authority” within the meaning of Section 2(h) of the RTI Act,2005.
3. The CJI has said that Supreme court was not against transparency but revealing information on judges appointment cannot be at the cost of judicial independence and somewhere a line needs to be drawn on how much information can be put out in the public domain.
4. Earlier, the Attorney General had opposed the Delhi high court verdict and said that making information on judicial appointments public would compromise judicial independence.
5. However, the lawyer who was arguing in support of Delhi High Court verdict has said that the CJI’s office comes under the Right to Information Act (RTI) and Supreme court is bound to disclose information as sought under the law by an applicant.
6. Right to Information Act 2005 mandates timely response to citizen requests for government information. The basic objective of the Right to Information Act is to (a)empower the citizens (b)promote transparency accountability in the working of the Government (c)contain corruption and (d)make our democracy work for the people in real sense.