Office of CJI is public authority under RTI, says SC

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday held that the office of the Chief Justice of India is a public authority under the transparency law, the Right to Information Act.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi upheld the 2010 Delhi High Court verdict and dismissed the three appeals filed by Secretary General of the Supreme Court and the Central Public Information officer of the apex court.

Cautioning that RTI cannot be used as tool of surveillance, the top court held that judicial independence has to be kept in mind while dealing with transparency.

It said that only names of judges recommended by the Collegium can be disclosed, not the reasons.