New Delhi, November 25: The appointment of judges is a “public activity” which cannot be withheld from disclosure, the Central Information Commission has held asking the Supreme Court to make public the records of appointing three justices of the apex court who superseded their seniors.
The Commission, however, asked to sever the information which can be termed as personal details of the persons mentioned in the records or correspondence available with the Chief Justice of India.
RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal had sought complete correspondence between authorities concerned relating to appointment of Justices H L Dattu, A K Ganguly and R M Lodha superseding seniority of Justices A P Shah, A K Patnaik and V K Gupta as allegedly objected by Prime Minister’s Office.
The plea was rejected by the Registry of Supreme Court saying it did not have the information and later pleaded before the Commission that it was held in fiduciary relationship with the Chief Justice of India hence cannot be given under the RTI Act.
–Agencies