The Supreme Court has refused to answer several queries filed under the right to information law on whether judges of the top court conversant with the affairs of Karnataka High Court had been consulted by the Chief Justice of India before a decision was taken to elevate Chief Justice P.D. Dinakaran to the apex court. The collegium, headed by the Chief Justice of India, had recommended Dinakaran’s name to the...

Calls for inspection of files on India-Pakistan statement issued at Sharm-el-Sheikh  The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) finds itself in a spot with the Central Information Commission (CIC) calling for the inspection of files related to the India-Pakistan joint statement issued on the sidelines of last year’s Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit at Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt. With India having a history of not permitting access to any foreign office file, no matter...

Like India’s topmost judge, lawyers’ regulatory bodies have been made accountable to the public under the Right to Information Act. The Central Information Commission (CIC) has ruled that bar councils are public authorities under the RTI Act and cannot refuse to share information lying with them with the public. The ruling is likely to kick off a rush of RTI applications to the bar councils, professional bodies that are expected to maintain...

In a landmark verdict against the Supreme Court, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday held that the office of the Chief Justice of India comes within the ambit of the Right to Information law, saying judicial independence is not a judge's privilege but a responsibility cast upon him. The 88-page judgment is being seen as a personal setback to CJI K G Balakrishnan, who has been opposed to disclosure of...

Are income-tax returns filed by individual citizens open to public scrutiny under the Right to Information? Yes, says the Central Information Commission. In a controversial December 14 ruling with far-reaching implications, the CIC held that individual assessees could not invoke privacy concerns to prevent an unrelated “third party” from inspecting returns filed with the Income-Tax Department. Sources in the Commission said the ruling must be seen as a trendsetter that could...