SC firm on not baring CJI assets
Sidharth
as reported by Sh. Praveen Kumar, New Delhi, October 6, 2009
The Supreme Court on Monday challenged a Delhi High Court order
directing it to reveal information on assets of judges held by the
Chief Justice of India (CJI).
But it stopped short of claiming immunity for the office of the CJI
from disclosing information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
Justice S. Ravindra Bhat of the Delhi High Court had on September 2
ruled that the office of the CJI was within the ambit of the RTI Act
and had directed the Supreme Court registry to respond to a query by
an RTI applicant seeking to know whether judges declared their assets
to the CJI according to a 1997 resolution.
In its petition before the high court seeking to set aside the
judgment, the apex court registry contended that Justice Bhat failed
to appreciate that information on "voluntary" declaration of assets by
the judges to the CJI could not be sought under the RTI Act.
Saying there was no law providing for declaration of assets to the
CJI, it said information could be sought under Section 2(j) of the Act
only if it was held by or was under the control of any public
authority under the provision of any statute or any law.
Citing Section 2(f) of the Act, the registry argued that only
information in the "public domain" could be sought under the RTI.
Stopping short of claiming complete immunity for the office of the
CJI, the registry, in its petition settled by Attorney General G.E.
Vahanvati, said Justice Bhat erred in holding that "all" information
received by the CJI was within the purview of the Act.
Defending itself against a sound judgment by Justice Bhat, the Supreme
Court - after putting forth arguments on points of law - went on to
narrate the consequences of the judgment to prove its point.
It said Justice Bhat failed to appreciate that there "is a plethora of
information" which is available with the judiciary but cannot be made
available in the public domain.
The registry then went on to point out that according to the judgment,
medical records of a judge could be sought under RTI. "This can have
disastrous consequences,'' it said.
In an unnecessary elaboration, it said that an RTI applicant could
seek medical records saying that the treatment was exaggerated or that
the payment made was in excess and "this opens the judge to
unnecessary harassment". The registry, thereafter, said judgment could
also entitle an RTI applicant to seek "notes and draft judgments" of
the learned judges.
The Supreme Court further said Justice Bhat failed to appreciate the
true scope and ambit of Section 8(1) (j) which exempted disclosure of
personal information. Justice Bhat had, however, pointed out that the
Act allowed parting with such information if it was in public
interest.
Courtesy: Mail Today
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/65002/LATEST%20NEWS/SC+firm+on+not+baring+CJI+assets.html