SC gets stay on disclosing medical expenses of judges under RTI

Few days before a Supreme Court bench highlighted misuse of the Right To Information (RTI) Act, the apex court got a stay on disclosing information about medical expenses of its judges.

Few days before a Supreme Court bench highlighted misuse of the Right To Information (RTI) Act, the apex court got a stay on disclosing information about medical expenses of its judges.


The Central Information Commission (CIC) has asked the Supreme Court to place its order before the secretary general so that medial expenditure of each judge --- serving or retired --- can be extracted and furnished to information seeker.

The Supreme Court had refused to provide medical expenses of individual judge on the ground that it maintain the medical expenditure figures for all judges combinedly and not individually.

Chief Information Officer Satyananda Mishra said the RTI law gives the CIC powers to direct a public authority to take any such steps as may be necessary to secure compliance of information, wanted the Court to maintain medical

Mishra gave the court a month’s time to place its order before the secretary general and inform it about the final decision.

Before the end of the deadline, the Supreme Court filed a petition against the CIC order in the Delhi high court and the stay was granted on March 30, 2012.

The Supreme Court had earlier got a stay on a similar order issued by the CIC in August 2011. Now, the Delhi high court will hear both the petitions this July.

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