CIC asks SC to make rules public

The Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed the SC to make public its rules, if any, about the appointment of its retired judges as arbitrators and also the total amount of medical reimbursement made to individual judges during last three years.

The Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed the SC to make public its rules, if any, about the appointment of its retired judges as arbitrators and also the total amount of medical reimbursement made to individual judges during last three years.

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The CIC, the apex transparency watchdog for the implementation of Right to Information Act (RTI) in the country, also directed the Supreme Court to disclose the list of all resolutions passed in the meetings of all the judges since 1997.

The CIC order came on three appeals filed by RTI activist, Subhash Chandra Agrawal, who was denied information by the Supreme Court either on the grounds that it was personal in nature or it was not available in the form sought by him.

The Chief Information Commissioner Satyananda Mishra, rejected the grounds cited by the Supreme Court for withholding the information and directed it to furnish rules and guidelines relating to appointment of apex court judges as arbitrators, medical reimbursement by judges and list of resolutions.

He said it was "very difficult" to accept the contention of the Supreme Court that "simple statistical information" as the total expenses incurred on medical reimbursement for individual judges or the list of resolutions passed in meetings of all its judges should not be available.