New Delhi: The Plea for maintaining the data on the Apex Court’s pending judgments and for making the information public under the provisions of the RTI- Right to Information Act, was dismissed by Supreme Court yesterday i.e. on 15th day of February 2016.
Around 15 years earlier to this present decision, the honourable Supreme Court of India had decided that when the judgements are kept pending for years, the confidence of the litigants would be shaken. It was in relation to the decision of the Central Information Commission- CIC where it had decided to disclose the number of pending or reserved judgements, the Court has refused to be made accountable under the provisions of the RTI Law.
However, it was seen that the High Court of Delhi’s Single Judge had upheld the decision of the CIC, in relation to the case, where the Apex Court was an opposing party. Now, the said Court’s division bench has already set aside the said Single Judge’s order on Saturday 7th February, this year, as there was an appeal preferred by the Registrar who is representing the Top Court.
However, the challenge to the said decision of the Division Bench was preferred by Lokesh Batra- the RTI applicant in his appeal, was dismissed by the Apex Court’s concerned bench comprising of Justice P. C. Ghose and Justice Amitava Roy.
RTI Applicant and appellant- Lokesh Batra was represented by Senior Advocate Prashant Bhushan who stated that the dismissal of this petition will undermine the confidence of the people in the Supreme Judicial Authority.
However, the decision of the CIC which was based on the Judgement of the honourable Supreme Court in Anil Rai Versus State of Bihar (2001), is now reverse by the Apex Court. It was seen in the said earlier decision that if the rendering of the judgement after reserving the same, will be unreasonably delayed, then the confidence of the litigants will be in result of the litigation shaken. However, now the Apex court is refusing to make its pending judgements data public.
Adv. Faim Khalilkhan Pathan