Supreme Court ruling in putting CJI Office under RTI Act upholds justice

New Delhi: The Supreme Court ruling putting the Chief Justice of India’s office under the Right to Information (RTI) Act is both momentous and also brings about much-needed transparency at the top-most step of the judicial ladder.

It must be borne in mind that nobody is above the law — in person or by virtue of the office he or she holds. There could be a few exceptions in areas like intelligence and defence.

A five-judge constitution bench today pronounced the landmark verdict. The bench had on April 4 reserved its verdict on appeals filed in 2010 by the Supreme Court secretary-general and its central public information officer against the High Court and the Central Information Commission’s (CIC) orders.

“The CJI is within the public authority. The Right to Information and Right to Privacy are two sides of the same coin,” the court said in a majority judgement upholding the Delhi High Court’s ruling.