Chief Justice to come under RTI - Delhi Highcourt

Delhi High Court on Tuesday ruled that the office of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) is a public authority and hence it comes within the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. A bench comprising Chief Justice AP Shah and Justices S Muralidhar and Vikramjeet Sen said, "Higher the judiciary, higher is the accountability towards the public at large". Emphasising the importance of RTI, the bench said, "RTI has over-reaching impact. Citizens who require such information should not misuse the information, thus saving the independence of (the) judiciary."
The Delhi High Court, while maintaining that the CJI cannot be said to have fiduciary relationship with other judges, directed the judges of the higher courts to declare their assets by next week. The court also ruled that the CJI must make public the disclosure of assets of Supreme Court (SC) judges made to him on the official website of the apex court. In view of the historic verdict, the CJI KG Balakrishnan will also have to declare his assets even though the he has consistently maintained that his office did not come within the ambit of the RTI Act. However, the Supreme Court registrar has decided to file an appeal against the Delhi High Court’s verdict. The historic judgement has been hailed by legal experts as it is expected to bring more transparency in the judicial system and enhance its stature.