New Delhi: The procedure of appointment of
judges and any proposal for its modification should be in
public domain, the Central Information Commission has held.
The CIC said this while directing the Supreme Court to
disclose communication exchange between Chief Justice of India
and the Law Ministry on the question of proposed changes in
appointment procedure for judges.
"The procedure of appointment of judges or any proposal
for modifying that procedure should necessarily be available
in the public domain so that the citizens know what is
transpiring among the major stake holders, in this case, the
Government of India and the CJI, in respect of such a vital
matter as the appointment of judges to the High Courts and
Supreme Court of India," Chief Information Commissioner
Satyananda Mishra said in an order.
Rejecting the arguments of the Supreme Court that the
information related to judges` appointment cannot be disclosed
as there is a stay, the Commissioner said a distinction needs
to be made between the process of appointment of an individual
as a judge and the procedure for making such appointments.
The case relates to plea of activist Subhash Agrawal
seeking disclosure of Law Ministry`s draft of revised
Memorandum of Procedure of appointment of judges in higher
courts and the related exchange of communication between the
then Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan and the law
minister.
PTI
