Delhi High Court Issues Notice On Plea Seeking RTI Information On Complaints Against Ex-Madras HC Judge T Raja

The Delhi High Court on Monday (May 26) issued notice on a plea seeking RTI information on whether any complaints of corruption or improper conduct have been received by Supreme Court Collegium against former Madras High Court judge Justice T Raja.

Justice Sachin Datta sought response of Supreme Court CPIO and listed it for hearing on September 08.

The plea has been filed by journalist and RTI activist Saurav Das. He was represented by Advocate Prashant Bhushan.

Das was denied the information by CPIO on May 17, 2023, by holding that, "The information is not maintained in the manner as sought for. " The reasoning of CPIO was affirmed by the First Appellate Authority.

Thereafter, Das filed appeal before the Central Information Commission (CIC) which remanded the matter back to CPIO. The CPIO had once again refused to give information sought by Das on the same ground that the information was not maintained in the format sought by him.

Das has challenged the CIC order and has sought a direction on CPIO to provide the information sought by him in the format available with the CPIO, or in the alternative to permit him to inspect the primary documents.

The plea submits that whether or not any complaint has been received by the Supreme Court of India against a judge is a 'yes' or 'no' question not requiring maintenance or disclosure of such information in any particular format and Das has not sought such information in any particular format.

It adds that there is overwhelming public interest in ensuring accountability of the judiciary and the public has every right to to know if any complaint against a judge has been made to the Supreme Court of India and on what date and what action has been taken thereupon.

“Transparency and accountability in the functioning of judiciary are sine qua non for the healthy functioning of our democracy. The Respondent failed to consider that the information sought in point no. 3 cannot be denied to the parliament and State Legislature, and the same information cannot be denied to the public, it concerns the broader public interest in Judicial Transparency and Judicial Accountability,” the plea states.

On April 25, 2023, Das filed an RTI application before the PIO of the Supreme Court seeking the following information :

With regards to Acting Chief Justice of Madras High Court T. Raja, please furnish

1. Whether any complaints, whether through letter representation or otherwise, about either allegations of corruption and/or any improper conduct has been received by the Chief Justice of India, collegium, and/or the Supreme Court of India till date for anytime of Mr. Raja's tenure.

2. If so, the total number of such complaints received till date along with the date.

3. The action taken on such complaints or letter representations.

On May 17, 2023, the Additional Registrar, the PIO of the Supreme Court, responded by saying "the information is not maintained in the manner as sought for.”

The appeal filed against the PIO's response was rejected by the First Appellate Authority (Registrar of the Supreme Court) on June 22, 2023. Following that, the second appeal was filed before the CIC on July 4, 2023.

Title: SAURAVDAS v. CPIO, SUPREME COURT OF INDIA