Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: In a landmark judgement, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday ruled that the office of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) is a public authority and hence it comes within the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
A bench comprising Chief Justice AP Shah and Justices S Muralidhar and Vikramjeet Sen said, "Higher the judiciary, higher is the accountability towards the public at large".
Emphasising the importance of RTI, the bench said, "RTI has over-reaching impact. Citizens who require such information should not misuse the information, thus saving the independence of (the) judiciary."
The Delhi High Court, while maintaining that the CJI cannot be said to have fiduciary
relationship with other judges, directed the judges of the higher courts to declare their assets by next week.
The court also ruled that the CJI must make public the disclosure of assets of Supreme Court (SC) judges made to him on the official website of the apex court.
In view of the historic verdict, the CJI KG Balakrishnan will also have to declare his assets even though the he has consistently maintained that his office did not come within the ambit of the RTI Act.
However, the Supreme Court registrar has decided to file an appeal against the Delhi High Court’s verdict.
The historic judgement has been hailed by legal experts as it is expected to bring more transparency in the judicial system and enhance its stature.
Lauding the verdict, Senior SC lawyer Prashant Bhushan said, “This is a historic verdict, it will enhance the stature of judiciary in the eyes of people of India.”
“It’s a ‘bold decision’ on a highly sensitive issue but it was legally and constitutionally correct, where for the first time a decision has been given against the superior court,” he added.
The verdict came in the backdrop of intense debate over the declaration of assets by the judges of Higher court and the CJI himself.
The High Court had earlier rejected the SC’s plea that the disclosure of information on assets held by the CJI was “unworkable”. The court, which described the transparency law as “powerful beacon”, said the modalities for revealing information could be decided by the CJI in consultation with other judges.
The court, which upheld the Central Information Commission’s order directing the SC to disclose whether judges are declaring their assets to the CJI or not, said “the holders of power” are expected to live by the standards they set and the judiciary is no exception.
It said “the Parliamentary intention in enacting this law was to arm citizens with the mechanism to scrutinize government and public processes and ensure transparency” and that the transparency law is the most important piece of legislation in the post-independence era to effectuate democracy.
First Published: Tuesday, January 12, 2010, 14:56