Constitution bench to examine if SC exempted under RTI Act

New Delhi, Aug 17 (PTI) The Supreme Court today referredto the constitution bench a plea raising questions whether theapex court was exempted from disclosing information onappointment of judges and other matters under the Right toInformation Act. A three-judge bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoireferred the issue to the larger bench on the ground that asubstantial question of law was involved in the matter. "A substantial question of law is involved… which needsto be interpretated," the bench also comprising justicesPrafulla C Pant and A M Khanwilkar said. "The entire issue is rooted in the order of Delhi HighCourt and that of the Central Information Commission holdingthat Supreme Court was covered under the RTI and was obligedto disclose information about the judges’ appointments andother judicial information," Advocate Prashant Bhushan,appearing for RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agarwal, said. He said that impression is gaining ground that judiciaryis shying away from bringing transparency in its system due todelay in deciding cases. Citing the delay in hearing of the matter, Bhushan saidwhen it comes to others, the Supreme Court directs even thepoll candidates to disclose their assets but when it comesto judges, it shies away. To this, the bench asked "why should anybody be shy ofanswering a question". The court then framed questions to be examined by theconstitution bench, including "whether the concept ofindependence of judiciary requires and demands the prohibitionof furnishing of the information sought" under the RTI Act and"whether the information sought for amounts to interference inthe functioning of the judiciary." The apex court had earlier in November 2010, said thatindependence of judiciary formed part of the basic structureof the Constitution. The independence of judiciary and the fundamental rightto free speech and expression are of a great value and bothfor them are required to be balanced, the court had said. Earlier, in 2009, the Central Information Commission hadupheld Agrawal’s plea seeking from the apex court completeinformation, including file notings, relating to appointmentof Justices H L Dattu, A K Ganguly and R M Lodha, all of whomhave since retired. PTI RKS SJK PKS ABAARC