New Delhi. The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea seeking disclosure of the details of the collegium meeting held on December 12, 2018, under the RTI (Right to Information) Act. Justice M.R. A bench of Justices Shah and CT Ravikumar said that the decision taken by all the members of the collegium, which is signed, can be said to be the final decision. The tentative proposals prepared on the basis of discussion and consultation among the members cannot be said to be final unless they are signed by all the members. The bench said, the collegium is a multi-member body, whose provisional decisions cannot be placed in the public domain.
The top court said it could not rely on media reports and interviews of a former member of the collegium and did not want to comment on the statements of the former judge. The collegium, in a resolution passed on January 10, 2019, noted that in its meeting held on December 12, 2018, only consultations took place on some names, but no final decision was taken.
RTI activist Anjali Bhardwaj had moved the apex court after the High Court dismissed her plea seeking disclosure of the agenda of the Supreme Court collegium meeting held on December 12, 2018. Justice M.B. Lokur was earlier a member of this collegium but due to his retirement, the equation of the collegium changed. In that meeting of the collegium, some decisions were reportedly taken on the elevation of some judges.
