[Updated]: RTI Applicable To Office Of CJI; SC Upholds Delhi HC Judgment
In a historic judgment, the Supreme Court on Wednesday held that the office of Chief Justice of India is a public authority under the Right to Information Act. "Confidentiality may have some bearing and importance in ensuring honest and fair appraisals, though it could work the other way around also and, therefore, what should be disclosed would depend on authentic enquiry relating to the public interest, that is, whether the right to access and the right to know outweighs the possible public interest in protecting privacy or outweighs the harm and injury to third parties when the information relates to such third parties or the information is confidential in nature", stated the Court. In the words of Justice Khanna : "The public interest test in the context of the RTI Act would mean reflecting upon the object and purpose behind the right to information, the right to privacy and consequences of invasion, and breach of confidentiality and possible harm and injury that would be caused to the third party, with reference to a particular information and the person". Independence in a given case may well demand openness and transparency by furnishing the information" In the context of information relating to judicial appointments, Justice Khanna's judgment drew a distinction between "input" and "output".
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