In a shocking order, the central information commissioner (CIC), upheld the reply of the central public information officer (CPIO) of the Supreme Court of India, the denial of information under the Right to Information Act (RTI) pertaining to the official email addresses of the judges of this highest judicial authority.
This, despite the fact that, in a landmark decision, the SC had upheld the 2009 Delhi High Court ruling that the office of the chief justice of India (CJI) qualifies as a 'public authority' under the Right to Information Act (RTI) of 2005.
While this judgement made it loud and clear that transparency extends to the highest echelons of the judiciary, the CPIO of the Supreme Court, Himani Sarad denied the information although section 4 of the RTI Act clearly states under its sub-clause ix that: "a directory of its officers and employees" is a public information which must be disclosed suo motu. Hundreds of websites of public authorities have uploaded the email addresses of government employees. So why should SC be an exception?
What's shocking is that CIC Heeralal Samariya, in his order dated 27 March 2025, decided in favour of the SC's CPIO and the first appellate authority (FAA) by concluding that: "Upon perusal of records of the case and hearing averments of the parties, it is noted that the Respondent has furnished reply, in accordance with the provisions of the RTI Act. Considering the fact that appropriate response in terms of the provisions of the RTI Act has been provided by the Respondent and the Appellant has chosen not to contest the case, no further intervention is warranted."
RTI applicant Srikanth Sreedhar, in his RTI application dated 6 September 2024, referred to the department of personnel and training (DoPT) guidelines which have made it mandatory for the proactive disclosure of contact details of officers and employees. Mr Sreedhar further highlighted that the chief justice of India's official email (
[email protected]) is publicly available and also brought to the notice of the CPIO that the Telangana High Court has disclosed its judges' official email IDs, so the Supreme Court should not have any problem doing the same.
However, the CPIO replied that the information is exempt from disclosure under Sections 8(1)(g) and 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, 2005. These Sections, he stated, pertain to information that could endanger an individual's safety or involve unwarranted invasion of privacy. The CPIO provided the general official email for the Supreme Court:
[email protected] even though the RTI applicant Sreedhar had mentioned this email in his RTI application.
The FAA of the Supreme Court upheld the CPIO's decision to deny an RTI request seeking the official email addresses of all Supreme Court judges and stated that the CPIO's reasons for the denial of information was justified and so dismissed the appeal.
During the second appeal hearing on 27th March, the SC's CPIO stated in writing that interpreting laws, judgements, or directing actions falls outside the scope of duties defined by the RTI Act. The CPIO stated that the request does not align with Section 2(f) of the RTI Act, which pertains to information already available in records, and thus cannot be accommodated.
RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar, when contacted by Moneylife, was equally surprised by the CIC order. He stated that "the RTI applicant was seeking only the official email IDs and not personal email IDs of the judges. He was not even asking for copies of the exchange of any official emails between the judges or from or to the judges, so rightfully the CIC should have ordered the CPIO to provide all the official emails. Instead, he has put a lid on information which should be available to all without filing an RTI application."
Hope the CIC looks back at this order, ponders and revises it.

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Vinita Deshmukh is consulting editor of Moneylife. She is also the convener of the Pune Metro Jagruti Abhiyaan. She is the recipient of prestigious awards like the Statesman Award for Rural Reporting, which she won twice in 1998 and 2005 and the Chameli Devi Jain Award for outstanding media person for her investigation series on Dow Chemicals. She co-authored the book "To The Last Bullet - The Inspiring Story of A Braveheart - Ashok Kamte" with Vinita Kamte and is the author of "The Mighty Fall".)