‘RTI Scrutiny Will Ruin Judicial Independence'

Collegium workings must be confidential, says AG

- Krishnadas Rajagopal

Opening up the “highly-sensitive” correspondence of the Supreme Court’s collegium and its workings to the Right to Information (RTI) regime would make judges and the government “shy” and “destroy” judicial independence, Attorney General K.K. Venugopal submitted on Wednesday.

Addressing a Constitution Bench, led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, Mr. Venugopal asserted that were the RTI Act to be applied to the collegium, its member judges would not be able to sit back and have a free and frank discussion for fear that their confidential views may later come into the public domain. Mr. Venugopal represents the Supreme Court’s Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), who is the authority tasked to respond to RTI queries related to the court. For the past decade, the Supreme Court has refused to divulge information under the RTI Act about the collegium’s confidential communications with the government.

Judges’ appointment

The collegium recommends judges for the High Courts and the Supreme Court.