New Delhi, January 12: In a path-breaking verdict, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday held that the office of the Chief Justice of India comes under the purview of the RTI Act and rejected a Supreme Court appeal saying judicial independence is not a judge’s personal privilege but a responsibility cast upon him.
The 88-page verdict, first of its kind, is being seen as a setback to CJI K G Balakrishnan, who has consistently been maintaining that his office does not come under the transparency law and hence cannot part with information like disclosure of judges’ assets under it. Dissatisfied with the verdict, the Supreme Court has decided to move an appeal before itself to decide legal issues.
Holding that CJI is a public authority under the Act, a full bench headed by Chief Justice A P Shah said judges of the superior courts should make public their assets as they are not “less accountable” than the judicial officers of lower courts who are bound by service rules to declare assets. The Bench dismissed the plea of the Supreme Court which had vehemently opposed bringing CJI’s office within the purview of the Act on the ground that it would encroach into its judicial independence.
“Judicial independence is not the personal privilege or prerogative of the individual Judge, the Bench observed in its judgement which was hailed as “historic” and “path-breaking” by legal experts.
“It is the responsibility imposed on each judge to enable him or her to adjudicate a dispute honestly and impartially on the basis of the law and the evidence,” the Bench said.
Today’s verdict came on an appeal filed by the apex court which challenged the order of a single judge of the High Court on September 2 holding that the CJI is a public authority and his office came within the purview of the RTI Act.
The High Court said that higher the judge is placed in the judicial hierarchy, greater is the standard of accountability and stricter the scrutiny. “If declaration of assets by a subordinate judicial officer is seen as essential to enforce accountability at that level, then the need for such declaration by judges of the constitutional courts is even greater,” it said turning down the plea that Supreme Court judges are not bound to declare their assets.
Giving a wider interpretation to the transparency law which was hailed as “the most significant event in the life of Indian Democracy”, the Court said that right to information was part of fundamental rights enshrined in Articles 14 (right to equality), 19(1)(a)(freedom of speech) and 21 (right to life) of the Constitution. The court said that the standards of judicial behaviour, both on and off the Bench, are normally extremely high. “For a Judge, to deviate from such standards of honesty and impartiality is to betray the trust reposed to him,” the unanimous judgement passed by three-judge bench, also comprising Justices Vikramajit Sen and S Muralidhar, said.
–Agencies