Judges Not above Law, RTI will Apply to CJI's Office : Honorable SC - What a Historical Judgment indeed - Sathish Puthan Madathil.

The historical judgment of the Honorable SC ruled on Wednesday that the 2005 Right to Information Act (RTI) would apply to the CJI's Office also. This shows the transparency and honest of our legal system particularly when Honorable Chief Justice himself taking such a judgment shows the respect to the highest court of this country and an example and model to the rest of the world. The Honorable Chief Justice of India Honorable Justice Ranjan Gogoi has shown a great example to the judges fraternity by giving such a historical order which is my opinion being a legal student. The Honorable SC has also observed that judges not above the law and that judicial independence went hand in hand with judicial accountability. Before his retirement from the highest office in the judiciary the Honorable CJ of India has shown to the rest of the world that how a proactive judge can give orders which is favorable to the civil society.

This was however an in principle acceptance of the law by the top court. Any information will only be released to information seekers on case to case basis if public interest outweighed the privacy of the constitutional functionary involved. (Economic Times Reference). ?According to the legal experts information seekers have to operate within the contours of the RTI Act. It is also opined that the CJI designate Honorable Justice S.A. Bode's office can expect a flood of RTI Applications. A five member Judge bench led by outgoing CJI Justice Ranjan Gogoi in the process unanimously upheld a Delhi High Court ruling of January 12, 2010 ruling that the CJI's office was a public office under the Act. The other Judges in the bench were Honorable Justice N.V. Ramana, who will be the CJ at a future point of time in terms of the Court hierarchy and Honorable Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, Honorable Justice Deepak Gupta and Honorable Justice Deepak Khanna.(Courtesy Economic Times).

The High Court had ruled on three pleas filed by the RTI activists including Subhash Agarwal seeking information under the law on correspondence between constitutional authorities on appointment of judges, correspondence about a specific case of political pressured allegedly exerted on a Madras High Court Judge who had later complained to the then CJI and information about Judge's assets. Judge's assets in any case are being placed in public domain for a while through only of few.

Conclusion :

According to the experts the judgment is very historical and shows the transparency and genuineness of the highest Court of India, in which decision is taken by the Judges of SC themselves which makes it highly respectable. However it is also believed that we should respect the status of our Supreme Court Judges and should be careful and prevent unnecessary and unwanted RTI applications filed with the intention of tarnishing the images of the Honorable Judges of the highest court of India. Otherwise the general public loose the faith in our Honorable Judges. RTI Activism has now a days become a fashion and many such characters with their personal interest files such petitions to the authority. There should a be clear rules and procedures to prevent the misuse of this freedom of right of information.