In a stand contrasting to the Supreme Court's, former Chief Justice of India J S Verma has favoured making public the information regarding appointment of judges.
"The correspondence between different authorities for appointment of judges in higher judiciary be disclosed after a judge has been appointed," Justice Verma said at the annual Kailash Nath Katju memorial lecture in New Delhi.
Verma, during whose tenure the collegium was expanded, emphasised the need to bring more transparency in the appointment procedure.
Verma's statement is in contrast to the stand of the current Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishanan, who has consistently been saying that such information cannot be made public as it is held by him in fiduciary capacity and cannot be disclosed.
Earlier in the month, the apex court had stayed the Central Information Commission's order which had asked it to disclose information on judges' appointment to the apex court by superseding seniors.
The CIC, in a series of orders, has held that the office of the CJI comes within the purview of the RTI Act and information held by the CJI should be revealed.
The apex court registry assailed the CIC's order contending that the material (information) held by the CJI was kept under fiduciary relationship and should be exempted from being made public under Section 8(1)e of the transparency law.
{{/usCountry}}The apex court registry assailed the CIC's order contending that the material (information) held by the CJI was kept under fiduciary relationship and should be exempted from being made public under Section 8(1)e of the transparency law.
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