SUPREME COURT TO DISCLOSE DETAILS

SUPREME COURT TO DISCLOSE DETAILS

NEW DELHI: The Central Information Commission (CIC) has asked the Supreme Court to disclose the details of the Union Minister who had allegedly approached a judge of the Madras High Court to influence his decision.

The decision of the CIC has been based on the RTI application filed by RTI activist S C Agarwal who had sought the name of the Union Minister and the complete correspondence with Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan in the matter. He also sought the name of the advocate through whom the Union Minister had allegedly spoken to the judge.  

“The information sought will now be provided to appellant S C Agrawal within 15 working days of the date of receipt of this decision notice,” said Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah in his order.

A few months ago, Justice R Regupathi of the Madras High Court had alleged in the open court that a Union Minister, through his lawyer, had sought favours in a case being probed by the CBI.

The applicant had quoted media reports claiming that the Chief Justice of India had said that Justice Regupathi had written to the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court that the minister had not spoken to him directly.

While lauding the effort of the applicant, the CIC said that the disclosure of information sought by the appellant would not in any way infringe on the constitutional stature of justices of the High Court or diminishes their exalted status.

Source: The New Indian Express