Click to play videoNew Delhi: The Supreme Court (SC) has made a U-turn weeks after agreeing to declare the assets of its judges’.
The Supreme Court in its appeal has said that the office of the Chief Justice of India doesn’t fall within the ambit of the right to information act (RTI) and the Delhi High Court's order must be quashed.
Hitting out at the High Court verdict, the apex court said that no legal boundation regarding declaration of assets can be made unless a parliamentary legislation cleared the exact position on asset declaration.
The apex court waited till the deadline of September 30 set by Delhi High Cour before filling an appeal. Since no stay was obtained, technically Supreme Court stands the risk of contempt of Delhi High Court order.
“Law should be equal for all. If this is a violation of the verdict by honourable Delhi High Court, then action should be taken against the responsible as per law but in no case ordinary men or authorities at the highest court should be put differently for law,” RTI activist SC Aggarwal said.
Declaration of assets by the judges has been mired in controversy from the start.
While the decision to make the declaration voluntarily seemed to have ended the controversy, the Chief Justice of India has been maintaining that his office is outside the ambit of RTI.
- August 26, 2009: SC judges declared they will voluntarily declare assets.
- September 2, 2009: Delhi HC ordered that office of CJI is within the ambit of RTI. Sets a deadline of September 30.
- October 5 2009: 5 days after the deadline, SC appeals against the HC order.
Grounds for Supreme Court appeal remains in the fact that CJI is not a public authority as defined in Section 2(h) of Right to Information Act, and therefore, is not required to designate a Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) for it or to supply the information held or maintained by it.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter and Google+)
displayed with permission. Use of the CNN name and/or logo on or as part of CNN-IBN does not derogate from the intellectual property rights of Cable News Network in respect of them.