In a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the 2010 Delhi High Court verdict and said that Chief Justice of India (CJI)’s office is a public authority under the Right to Information Act.
“Transparency doesn’t undermine judicial independence,” the SC said.
The Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi-headed five-bench constitution also dismissed the three appeals that were filed by SC secretary-general and the Central Public Information officer of the apex court.
“Confidentiality and right to privacy have to be maintained and RTI can’t be used for as a tool of surveillance,” the SC further said.
“Only names of judges recommended by the collegium can be disclosed and not the reasons,” the court added.
Other members of the bench include Justices NV Ramana, DY Chandrachud, Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna.
CJI Ranjan Gogoi is retiring on November 17.