CIC Asks Supreme Court PIO To Re-examine RTI Application Seeking Information On Complaints Against Ex-Madras HC Judge T Raja
The Central Information Commission has directed the Public Information Officer of the Supreme Court to re-examine an application under the Right to Information Act 2005 seeking information on whether any complaints of corruption or improper conduct have been received by the Supreme Court Collegium against former Madras High Court judge Justice T Raja.
The CIC has asked the PIO of the Supreme Court to furnish the number of complaint(s), if maintained in their records, or inform the appellant accordingly, within 30 days of the receipt of the order. The RTI application was filed by Saurav Das, an independent journalist and RTI activist,
However, the CIC held that the applicant was not entitled to the information on the action taken on such complaints, saying that it was personal information which was exempted from disclosure as per Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act. In that regard, the CIC noted that the applicant was not the complainant.
On April 25, 2023, Das filed an RTI application before the PIO of the Supreme Court seeking the following information :
With regards to Acting Chief Justice of Madras High Court T. Raja, please furnish
1. Whether any complaints, whether through letter representation or otherwise, about either allegations of corruption and/or any improper conduct has been received by the Chief Justice of India, collegium, and/or the Supreme Court of India till date for anytime of Mr. Raja's tenure.
2. If so, the total number of such complaints received till date along with the date.
3. The action taken on such complaints or letter representations.
On May 17, 2023, the Additional Registrar, the PIO of the Supreme Court, responded by saying "the information is not maintained in the manner as sought for.”
The appeal filed against the PIO's response was rejected by the First Appellate Authority (Registrar of the Supreme Court) on June 22, 2023. Following that, the second appeal was filed before the CIC on July 4, 2023.
On October 7, Central Information Commissioner Heeralal Samariya disposed of the appeal by ordering :
"Commission, after perusal of case records and submissions made during hearing, directs the concerned PIO to re-examine the point No. 1 and point No. 2 of the instant RTI Application and furnish the number of complaint(s), if maintained in their records, or inform the Appellant accordingly, within 30 days from the date of receipt of this order, free of cost via speed post. A compliance report to this effect be duly sent to the Commission by the PIO. In doing so, PIO must make sure that information which is exempted from disclosure under RTI Act, 2005 must not be disclosed to the Appellant.
As regards the point No. 3 of the RTI Application the Commission is of the considered opinion that the same is personal information of an individual and the Appellant is not even the complainant of the complaint(s) accordingly the same is exempted from disclosure under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act. No further action lies."
Justice T Raja retired as the Acting Chief Justice of the Madras High Court in May 2023. Although the Supreme Court Collegium had recommended his transfer to the Rajasthan High Court in November 2022, the transfer was not implemented since the Central Government did not notify the Collegium's proposal. In April 2023, the Supreme Court collegium reiterated that Justice Raja should be transferred at the earliest; however, it did not happen before his retirement.
Case Details : Saurav Das v.PIO, Supreme Court of India Second Appeal No. CIC/SCOFI/A/2023/631939.