CIC seeks details of action against former CJI

RTI plea on complaint against Justice Kabir in matter of leaked judgment

B.Line:Justice Altamas Kabir, who was sworn in as the 39th Chief Justice of India,at the swearing in ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhawan in the Capital on 29.9.12. PHOTO: Kamal Narang

The Central Information Commission has directed the Supreme Court Information Officer and the Union Law Ministry to share details of the action taken on a complaint regarding former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Altmas Kabir in connection with the alleged leak of a judgment in 2013.

Issuing the order, Information Commissioner M. Sridhar Acharyulu observed that a comprehensive mechanism was needed to ensure both answerability and access to information about the administration of justice, stating: “It is not known who will discipline the judges or former judges, CJI or former CJI.

The Supreme Court judgment dated July 18, 2013, in the matter of

Christian Medical College, Vellore, vs Union of India , was allegedly uploaded on a private website hours before the pronouncement.

Other complaints

On July 24 the same year, eminent RTI activist Subhash Agrawal sought from the Law Ministry details of complaints filed by Justice (Retired) V.R. Krishna Iyer and Dr. M. Furquan. He also asked about the action taken on the complaints. However, he did not get any concrete information.

After hearing both sides, the Information Commissioner directed the Supreme Court information officer to inform the appellant about the action or follow-up on the representation of Dr. Furquan, which was forwarded by the Law Ministry to the CJI’s private secretary. He also directed that the petitioner be provided the number of complaints rejected or accepted, without indicating the names or contents.

The Information Commission also directed the Law Ministry to forward the concerned part of RTI application, pertaining to the action taken on complaints against former CJI Altamas Kabir and the action taken on the leak of judgment before pronouncement, to the Supreme Court information officer for further sharing of details.

The Ministry has also been directed to inform the appellant how many complaints against former CJIs and former Judges were received and forwarded, but only after editing the names and contents.

Issuing the order for compliance within 60 days, the Information Commissioner observed that there was no system for redress of grievances in any courts of India, and no mechanism to receive complaints against the judiciary.