The five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi has rightly held that the office of the Chief Justice of India is a Public Authority and comes within the ambit of the Right to Information Act. It was upsetting that the Supreme Court which over the years issued numerous directions for transparency and accountability in the functioning of various institutions was itself shying away from the very transparency law. After having reserved that Judgment on 4th April why did it have to take the Supreme Court over seven long months to deliver this verdict? With Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi retiring this week, his successor Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde will have to start conforming to the rigors of the RTI Act.
An effective Judiciary guarantees transparency and fairness in judicial processes.Any argument that transparency will undermine independence is not valid as the public have the right to know as much as possible without infringing on privacy, about those who sit in judgment on their fate. The public must be confident that the judiciary is beyond reproach. Transparency is a fundamental component of judicial independence. We can only assure this independence if we have relevant information about the judiciary and its performance. As the Constitution of India envisages a free, fair and independent Judiciary, the highest standards of judicial independence must be ensured by warding off even the faintest trace of governmental influence on the judiciary. It is mandatory that judicial accountability must be maintained at all times with every Judge at all levels conforming to the highest standards of uprightness and integrity. If Judges cannot with all probity in public life, balance the scales of Justice, our Temples of Justice become pointless ending up as dens of chicanery and jugglery. Caroline Kennedy had very rightly said "The bedrock of our democracy is the rule of law and that means we have to have an independent judiciary, judges who can make decisions independent of the political winds that are blowing" Lord Harry Woolf, a former Chief Justice of England had also said “Like old clocks, our judicial institutions need to be oiled, wound up and set to true time". Aires Rodrigues Advocate High Court C/G-2, Shopping Complex Ribandar Retreat, Ribandar – Goa – 403006 Mobile No: 9822684372 Office Tel No: (0832) 2444012 Email: airesrodrigu...@gmail.com Or airesrodrig...@yahoo.com You can also reach me on Facebook.com/ AiresRodrigues Twitter@rodrigues_aires www.airesrodrigues.com