• 9964432222
  • Mail Us
  • Appointment
  • Locate Us
  • Chat Now
  • Courses
  • Login
  • Register
Manifest IAS
JournalsOfIndia
Manifest Learning Academy
  • Home
  • SNIPPETSfor Prelims
  • ARTICLESfor Mains
  • BROWSEBY SOURCE
  • DOWNLOADS
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • SNIPPETSfor Prelims
  • ARTICLESfor Mains
  • BROWSEBY SOURCE
  • DOWNLOADS
No Result
View All Result
JournalsOfIndia
No Result
View All Result
Home Law & Policy

CJI and RTI

November 28, 2019
in Law & Policy
Reading Time: 5 mins read
0
188
VIEWS
Share on WhatsAppShare on TelegramShare on Facebook
image_pdfMake PDF

Source: The Hindu

Manifest pedagogy: In a major victory to the RTI Act, Supreme Court declared itself as a public authority under RTI. The case which has been sub-judice for the past 10 years has finally been resolved in favour of Transparency and Disclosure. There are many important dimensions to this judgement like the definition of Public authority in RTI act which is important for prelims and the provisions for disclosure of property will be important for Mains.

In news: Recently SC has ruled that the office of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) is a public authority under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

Placing it in syllabus: Judiciary & RTI

Static dimensions:

  • RTI and definition of public authority 
  • Genesis of the issue

Current dimensions: Recent judgment  &  Its importance

Content:

RTI and definition of public authority:

  • RTI Act is an act of the Parliament of India to provide for setting out the practical regime of right to information for citizens.
  • Under the provisions of the Act, any citizen of India may request information from a “public authority” which is required to reply expeditiously or within thirty days. 
  • As defined in the Act, a “ Public authority” is any authority or body or institution of self government established or constituted – 
    • by or under the Constitution; 
    • by any other law made by Parliament or a State Legislature; 
    • by notification issued or order made by the Central Government or a State Government. 
  • Bodies owned, controlled or substantially financed by the Central Government substantially financed by the Central Government or State Government also fall within the definition of public authority.
  • The financing of the body or the NGO by the Government may be direct or indirect.

Genesis of the issue:

  • An activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal filed a petition in 2007 seeking “copy of the 1997 resolution“which required every judge to make a declaration of all assets.
  • The SC refused to share the asset declaration resolution.
  • Agrawal moved the Chief Information Commission (CIC), which ruled that the office of the SC falls under the ambit of the RTI Act and the it cannot deny information sought under the RTI Act.
  • In 2009, Agrawal had sought details of correspondence between the Collegium and the government on the appointment of three SC judges – Justices HL Dattu, AK Ganguly and RM Lodha who had superseded Justices AP Shah, AK Patnaik and VK Gupta.
  • Though CIC directed the CJI’s office to disclose the correspondence details, SC had refused to do so and moved the Delhi High Court challenging the CIC ruling.
  • The SC argument was that declaration of assets to the CJI was “personal information” of the judges and hence not covered under the RTI Act.
  • While the matter was being heard by the Delhi High Court, the SC had passed another resolution making declaration of assets by the judges in public “voluntary”.
  • In September 2009, the single-judge bench of the Delhi High Court upheld the CIC ruling pronouncing that the CJI came under the ambit of the RTI Act.
  • The Supreme Court approached a bigger bench of the Delhi High Court against the single-judge verdict in the RTI case.
  • The three-judge Delhi High Court bench in November 2009 ruled that the 1997 resolution of the Supreme Court judges was binding on all judges of the apex court.
  • In January 2010, the bench ruled that the office of the CJI is a public authority and comes under the ambit of the RTI Act.
  • The SC approached itself by filing a petition against the Delhi High Court ruling.
  • A three-judge bench of the SC stayed the Delhi High Court judgment in the RTI case in 2010.
  • In 2016 it referred the RTI case to a five-judge Constitution bench.

Recent judgment:

  • The SC bench led by CJI Ranjan Gogoi rejected the contention of the SC that had challenged a Delhi High Court judgment bringing it under the ambit of the RTI Act.
  • The bench has declared that “transparency doesn’t undermine judicial independence”.
  • It ruled that the office of the CJI is a “public authority” under the RTI Act, as much as the SC itself.
  • This judgement enables the disclosure of information such as the judges’ personal assets. 
  • The Bench unanimously argued that the right to know under the RTI Act was not absolute and this had to be balanced with the right of privacy of judges.
  • The information related to issues such as judicial appointments will also be subject to the test of public interest.
  • However, RTI can’t be used as a tool of surveillance. 
  • It said that only the names of judges recommended by the collegium can be disclosed, not the reasons.

Its importance:

  • Transparency and the right to information are crucially linked to the rule of law itself. 
  • The RTI Act is a strong weapon that enhances accountability, citizen activism and participatory democracy.
  • With the CJI’s office coming under the RTI Act, the ordinary citizen can seek information regarding assets of the judges and also the reason for their appointment.
  • Bringing accountability reforms in judiciary would increase people’s trust in the courts’ impartiality, aiding core judicial functions. 
  • It is a step in the right direction to curb corruption in public authorities.
  • It could lead to better governance by curbing arbitrary and corrupt acts.

 

image_pdfMake PDF
Tags: GS-2Mains

Related Posts

India’s nuclear liability law

India’s nuclear liability law

April 29, 2023
Right to to Default Bail is a Fundamental Right

Right to to Default Bail is a Fundamental Right

April 29, 2023
Triple tests for Altruistic surrogacy

Triple tests for Altruistic surrogacy

April 29, 2023
National Medical Devices Policy- 2023

National Medical Devices Policy- 2023

April 28, 2023
SUPREME initiative

SUPREME initiative

April 28, 2023
The National Health Accounts Estimates report for India (2019-20)

The National Health Accounts Estimates report for India (2019-20)

April 27, 2023
50 years of Kesavananda Bharati case

50 years of Kesavananda Bharati case

April 24, 2023
Animal Birth Control(ABC) Rules, 2023

Animal Birth Control(ABC) Rules, 2023

April 22, 2023
Sangathan Se Samridhhi campaign of DAY-NRLM

Sangathan Se Samridhhi campaign of DAY-NRLM

April 20, 2023
UGC’s National Credit Framework

UGC’s National Credit Framework

April 14, 2023
Please login to join discussion

Our Offline Classroom Student

CONGRATULATIONS TO 2021 TOPPERS !!!

Rank 171 Kumar Shivashish
Rank 250 Sahithya
Rank 263 Sumit Kumar Thakur
Rank 311 Deepak Ramachandra Shet
Rank 455 Ravinandan B M

May 2023
MTWTFSS
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031 
« Apr    

Browse by Category

  • Agriculture
  • Disaster Management
  • Economy
  • Environment
  • Ethics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Geography
  • Governance
  • History
  • Law & Policy
  • Opinion
  • People in News
  • Places in News
  • Science & Tech
  • Security
  • Society
  • Sports
  • Uncategorized

Browse by Tags

AIR All India Radio BBC Business Line Business Standard dow Down to Earth DownToEarth DTE Economic Times ET FAO Financial Express GS-1 GS-2 GS-3 GS-4 Hindustan Times IE India & the world Indian express Indiatoday India today Kurukshetra Livelihoods portal LiveMint Mains News Newspaper News Paper PIB Prelims PRS India RSTV Science Reporter Survey The Hindu The India Express The Indian Express The Print the wire Times of India TOI TOPPERS Yojana
JournalsOfIndia

Our vision is to orient the readers to grasp the facts objectively and analyse critically. In the rush of reaching first to the readers, the websites miss the balanced opinion, which is the need of the hour. We aim to reach the readers with more crispness, preciseness and relevance. We bring the articles in UPSC way for the civil services aspirants and the Wisest Way for general readers.

Categories

  • Agriculture
  • Disaster Management
  • Economy
  • Environment
  • Ethics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Geography
  • Governance
  • History
  • Law & Policy
  • Opinion
  • People in News
  • Places in News
  • Science & Tech
  • Security
  • Society
  • Sports
  • Uncategorized

Browse by Tag

AIR All India Radio BBC Business Line Business Standard dow Down to Earth DownToEarth DTE Economic Times ET FAO Financial Express GS-1 GS-2 GS-3 GS-4 Hindustan Times IE India & the world Indian express Indiatoday India today Kurukshetra Livelihoods portal LiveMint Mains News Newspaper News Paper PIB Prelims PRS India RSTV Science Reporter Survey The Hindu The India Express The Indian Express The Print the wire Times of India TOI TOPPERS Yojana

Newsletter

The most important UPSC news and events of the day.

Get Journals daily newsletter on your inbox.

© 2020 JournalsOfIndia - A free initiative by Manifest Team.

  • Login
  • Sign Up
  • Home
  • SNIPPETS
  • ARTICLES
  • BROWSE
  • DOWNLOADS
No Result
View All Result

© 2020 JournalsOfIndia - A free initiative by Manifest Team.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In