The report opens up a fresh round of conflict between Parliament and the judiciary, which has made public its opposition to the idea of being reviewed by the public

A parliamentary panel has said that the people of India have every right to seek details of appointments in the judiciary, an individual judge’s wealth, and allegations of misconduct against them, if any, under provisions of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

“Except judicial decision-making, all other activities of administration and persons included in the judiciary are subject to the RTI Act,” says a report by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Law and Justice, recently tabled in the upper house of the Indian Parliament.

The report opens up a fresh round of conflict of views between Parliament and the judiciary, which has made public its opposition to the idea of being studied by the public.

Ten days ago, Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan had said he was holding constitutional office and “constitutional functionaries are not covered under the RTI Act”.

E M Sudarsana Natchiappan, who heads the parliamentary panel, said: “When constitutional authorities like the prime minister and Lok Sabha speaker were covered by the RTI Act there was no question of any exemption for any other individual’s office.”

Judicial decision-making doesn’t come under the Act because decisions are pronounced in open courts, and consultation between judges is a privilege, he added.

Natchiappan said it was important to end the confusion over the matter, and after discussing interpretations of various sections of the Act “the committee was very clear that all constitutional authorities came under the definition of public authority”.

The committee, which went into the demand of grants for the personnel ministry and discussed interpretations of Section 2 (h) of the RTI Act, that is, the definition of public authority, said the provision is very clear that all constitutional authorities come under the definition of public authority.

The committee examined every clause of the RTI Act 2004 and remained conscious of the fact that all wings of the State -- executive, legislature and judiciary -- are fully covered under this Act since all organs of the State are accountable to the citizens of India, in a democracy.

“The pith and substance of this Act is to empower people by allowing them to seek information on those occupying high office and making decisions which affect their lives. Any reluctance only amounts to a dilution of people’s right to know,” said Natchiappan.

Source: Hindustan Times, April 30, 2008
            The Economic Times, April 30, 2008
             PTI, April 30, 2008