Rationale behind passing judgement can't be revealed under RTI: Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: The rationale behind passing judgements or orders by courts cannot be disclosed to litigants under the Right to Information Act, Supreme Court has said.

An appellate authority of the Supreme Court, constituted under the RTI Act, dismissed the plea of an RTI activist who had sought information on the rationale for passing orders on review petitions without holding a hearing and without giving any reasons.

"It will be of essence to state that the CPIO is not the authority or the person from whom information can be sought on the rationale behind the delivery of judgements by the court as has been attempted to be done by the appellant in this case," the authority said in its order.

It dismissed an appeal filed by Ravinder Raj, an advocate, who approached the appellate authority after the information officer of the apex court refused to furnish information on the issue.

"The Supreme Court in the case of Khanapuram (judgement) has held that the judge speaks through its judgements or orders passed by him and no litigants can be allowed to seek information as to why and for what reasons the judge came to a particular decision or conclusion," it said.

"Taking a cue from the law laid down above, it is evident that the information sought on these counts has no basis in it," it added.