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Thursday, Sep 27, 2007
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Information Act will not apply to judicial proceedings: Commission

Legal Correspondent

Intrusion into judicial work unnecessary, it says

New Delhi: The Right to Information Act will not apply to furnishing of information on judicial proceedings in courts or tribunals, the Central Information Commission has held.

“Apparently all judicial proceedings are conducted in the open and transparency is the hallmark of all such proceedings. There is no element of secrecy whatsoever. But at the same time, it has to be borne in mind that the judiciary is independent and all judicial authorities including all courts and tribunals must work independently and without any interference insofar as their judicial work is concerned,” said the Full Commission, comprising Chief Information Officer Wajahat Habibullah and Information Officers A.N. Tiwari and Padma Balasubramanian.

“The independence of a judicial authority is all pervasive and any amount of interference is neither desirable nor should ever be encouraged in any manner.”

The Commission rejected the plea by appellant Rakesh Kumar Gupta of Delhi, who wanted certain information including the notes or minutes of the proceedings maintained by members of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal before the pronouncement of the order, inspection of case records and a copy of the decision in a particular case.

“The jottings and notes made by the judges while hearing a case can never, and by no stretch of imagination, be treated as final views expressed by them on the case. Such noting cannot therefore be held part of a record ‘held’ by the public authority.”

Any intrusion into the judicial work under the RTI Act was unnecessary, the Commission said.

“The independence of the judicial authority flows from the discretion given to that authority to take all decisions in matters properly brought within the purview of that authority.

“In other words, it would not be appropriate for the Commission or any entity functioning as part of the RTI regime to pronounce on the disclosure of a given set of information, if it is found that under another law (such as the Income Tax Act), this disclosure function is exercisable as part of the judicial function by a judiciary authority, such as the ITAT.”

The Commission said, “Given that a judicial authority must function with total independence and freedom, should it be found that an action initiated under the RTI Act impinges upon the authority of that judicial body, the Commission will not authorise the use of the RTI Act for any such disclosure requirement.”

An information seeker should, therefore, approach the court or the tribunal concerned “if he intends to have some information concerning a judicial proceeding and it is for the court or tribunal concerned to take a decision whether the information can be given or not.”

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