Live Mint: New Delhi: Wednesday, February 17, 2016.
The Delhi High court on Tuesday reserved judgement in a case challenging the inclusion of the attorney general’s office under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
A bench comprising Chief Justice G. Rohini and Jayant Nath will now decide if opinions of the government’s top lawyer can be disclosed to the public on request.
The centre on 26 March last year challenged a single judge verdict of the court that said that the attorney general’s office would fall under the purview of the RTI Act.
On 10 March, Justice Vibhu Bakhru held that in light of the nature of functions discharged by the attorney general, he was a constitutional functionary and was obliged to discharge the functions under the Constitution as well as under any other law.
Sanjay Jain, additional solicitor general, appearing on behalf of the central government, argued that the government and its top law officer share an attorney-client relationship which is privileged and cannot be disclosed to the public. “The nature of work of the attorney general does not allow his office to fall under RTI,” he told the court.
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