The
New Indian Express: Madurai: Tuesday, 18 November 2014.
Lawyers and litigants in the country shall have to
continue to grope in the dark on the Supreme Court’s stand on establishing its
bench outside the national capital or its location. For, the Chief Information
Commission (CIC) has ruled that the apex court’s view need not be disclosed
under the Right to Information (RTI) Act to avert a political controversy.
Over two years ago, the full bench of the Supreme
Court had met to discuss about a demand from a section of the lawyers and
litigants to set up a bench of the apex court outside New Delhi on the lines of
some high courts such as the Madras High Court having a bench outside their
respective State capitals.
However, what transpired during the meeting
remains shrouded in secrecy to this day.
Madurai-based lawyer Rajiv Rufus, whose queries
under the RTI Act failed to elicit the required response from the Supreme
Court, moved the CIC hoping that it would lift the veil on the issue. However,
the CIC comprising information commissioners M A Khan Yusufi, Manjula Prasher
and Vijai Sharma, endorsed the Supreme Court’s decision not to disclose the
information.
The CIC bench said: “We find force in the
arguments of the respondent (Additional Registrar of Supreme Court / Chief
Public Information Officer) that the information sought, if disclosed at this
stage, could lead to needless controversy of a political nature, which should
best be avoided taking into account the need for efficient functioning of the
Supreme Court. It is felt that the disclosure of this sensitive information
could arouse regional feelings leading to law and order problems.”
Rufus wanted the copy of the minutes of the full
bench meeting of the apex court and the communication sent to and by the Chief
Justice of India and to the Parliamentary Standing Committee relating to the
setting up of the bench outside New Delhi.
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