Order reserved on whether chief justice's office is under RTI

New Delhi, Nov 13 : The Delhi High Court Friday said that judges are accountable to public at large, but reserved its ruling on the Supreme Court registry's appeal against its earlier order that the office of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) comes within the ambit of the Right To Information (RTI) Act.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justices S. Muralidhar and Vikramjeet Sen reserved its order after two days of lengthy arguments.

"Judges are accountable to public at large as we live in a democratic country," Shah said to a query by Attorney General G.E.Vahanvati about whom judges were accountable to.

Vahanvati, while continuing his arguments for the Supreme Court, contended that the resolution regarding declaration of assets by judges was "non-statutory and non-binding" and it "could not force a judge to declare assets to the Chief Justice."

"The single judge bench had erred in declaring that the office of the CJI comes within the ambit of the RTI Act, and had interpreted the provisions of the act too broadly, which was unnecessary and illogical," he said.

"The resolution was meant for self-regulatory purposes and it cannot be binding," he said.

The high court, in its Sep 2 verdict, held that the CJI was a public authority and his office came within the purview of the transparency law. The apex court, in its appeal, said the declaration of the assets by the judges is a voluntarily step and is not under the RTI Act.

--IANS